Corona-Driven Regional Airport Duty-Free Shops Temporarily Closed... Gimhae and Jeju Also on Partial Shutdown

Lotte Duty Free Declares Temporary Closure at Gimpo Airport
Zero Sales at Duty-Free Shops in Four Regional International Airports
Similar Situation in Gimhae and Jeju... International Flights Down to One-Tenth Compared to January
"Difficult to Make Decisions Due to Employee Employment Issues"

Lotte Duty Free temporarily suspended operations at the international terminal duty-free store of Gimpo International Airport on the 12th. This decision was made due to the sharp decline in flights and passengers at Gimpo Airport caused by the global spread of COVID-19. Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Cha Min-young] With air routes blocked, duty-free shops at regional international airports are increasingly resorting to the extreme measure of 'temporary closure.' Many places are forced to keep their doors open despite duty-free sales practically converging to 'zero' due to employee employment issues. As international flights, a basic condition for duty-free shops, have been completely suspended, the need for rent reductions due to deteriorating profitability has grown.

According to the industry on the 14th, most of the 10 duty-free shops at seven regional international airports are in a state of temporary closure. Three duty-free shops have implemented temporary closures.

At Gimpo International Airport, Lotte Duty Free temporarily halted operations and entered indefinite temporary closure as of the 12th. This is because the Japan international flight route disappeared due to the Korea-Japan entry restrictions applied since the 9th. Consequently, the number of flights sharply dropped from 24 per day in January to 1-2 per day. Hotel Shilla also temporarily shortened its business hours by about 5 hours, operating from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. starting from the 11th.

The situation is not much different at Gimhae International Airport and Jeju International Airport, where some international flights remain. At Gimhae Airport, Lotte Duty Free and the foreign duty-free shop DFS Thomas Juul Korea operate duty-free shops. The number of international flights at Gimhae Airport has plummeted from an average of 85 per day in January to 8-9 per day as of March, a reduction to one-tenth. At Jeju International Airport, Hotel Shilla and JDC Duty Free are operating flexibly.

The four airports where international flights have been completely suspended are helpless. The Grand Duty Free, operated by Grand Tourist Hotel at Daegu International Airport, entered early closure at the end of last month. This was because Daegu Airport was completely controlled due to a surge in COVID-19 cases in the Daegu-Gyeongbuk region. Kukmin Industry, which operates a duty-free shop at Gwangju Muan International Airport, also closed its duty-free shop as of the 2nd of this month. In the case of Muan Airport, international passengers numbered 87,688 in January and February, down 37% compared to last year, and in March, there have been none at all.

Duje Industrial Development and Dongmu, which operate duty-free shops at Cheongju International Airport and Yangyang International Airport respectively, are not closed but have zero sales. Only employees are guarding empty stores. Duje Industrial Development, which acquired the status of a single duty-free shop at the end of last year, recorded daily sales in the tens of millions of won at the beginning of the year but saw sales plummet as the COVID-19 issue intensified at the end of January.

By definition, a duty-free shop (bonded sales area) is a place that sells goods exempt from customs duties and domestic taxes to domestic and foreign travelers departing overseas, on the condition that the goods are exported abroad or used by those eligible for duty exemption. Therefore, international flight routes are an essential condition for duty-free shops.

An anonymous duty-free shop official said, "Although sales are practically zero, we cannot easily stop operations because the livelihoods of head office employees and partner company employees depend on it," adding, "I understand that Korea Airports Corporation is also finding it difficult to come up with countermeasures as this is the first time they have experienced such a situation." Another duty-free shop official said, "Because it is a regulated industry, it is difficult to speak openly, but it is true that management is difficult everywhere," and hinted, "Measures such as rent reductions are necessary."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.