"Save Us"... Small and Medium Duty-Free Shops Demand Expanded Rent Reduction at Incheon Airport

The departure hall of Terminal 1 at Incheon International Airport is quiet on the 19th. Photo by Mun Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Seungjin Lee] Small and medium-sized duty-free shops at Incheon International Airport have demanded additional measures, citing insufficient government support policies.

Grand Duty Free, Entas Duty Free, City Duty Free, and SM Duty Free, which operate duty-free shops at the departure and arrival halls of Incheon International Airport's Terminal 1 and Terminal 2, appealed on the 20th through a statement, saying, "Due to the issuance of a Level 1 travel alert for all countries starting from the 19th amid the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), we are facing an unprecedented situation with no inbound or outbound passengers."

They argued, "While the tourism and performance industries related to COVID-19 have been designated as special employment support sectors, allowing some maintenance of employment, the duty-free industry has been excluded, making it increasingly difficult to maintain employment while operating duty-free shops."

They continued, "Differences in industry classification standards by government public institutions have caused discrimination between large and medium-sized enterprises, and the current situation faced by the duty-free industry is difficult to endure without unprecedented government support policies," emphasizing, "It is time for policies such as full rent exemption during store closures."

Meanwhile, small and medium-sized duty-free shops requested that Incheon Airport set rents based on operating rates excluding the minimum guaranteed amount until passenger demand recovers, thereby increasing the scope of rent reductions, or exempt rents during duty-free shop closures. They also urged resolving the blind spots in support for Entas and SM Duty Free, which are classified as medium-sized enterprises and thus excluded from the government's rent reduction support policies.

Currently, for the four small and medium-sized companies (Terminal 1 and Terminal 2), the rent-to-expected sales ratio for March is anticipated to be about 252% or more on average at Terminal 1 and about 200% or more on average at Terminal 2.

In this regard, small and medium-sized duty-free shops pointed out, "The 25% rent reduction applied to small businesses such as City Duty Free and Grand Duty Free is an insufficient support policy that cannot overcome the worsening management situation faced with over 90% sales decline in March, high rent payments, and operating expenses."

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