Dubai Duty Free pips $2B sales, highest ever

DUBAI — Dubai Duty Free on Saturday said it had surpassed the $2 billion (Dh7.3 billion) sales mark — its highest ever — while achieving over 3.5 per cent growth yearon-year.

The company said it achieved milestone when Paul and Annelise Christensen, a retired Danish couple, purchased a camera worth Dh1,999 in Concourse B on December 29 at 12:43am.

The couple were transiting Dubai for the first time from Copenhagen to Sydney for their wedding anniversary. They were presented with a $2,000 gift card by senior Dubai Duty Free officials.

“My wife wanted to purchase gold and with this $2,000 gift card she can buy all the gold that she wants,” said Paul Christensen.

“We have been tracking the sales figures hour-by-hour over the past couple of days and it is fantastic to have achieved this figure before the end of the year,” said Colm McLoughlin, executive vice-chairman and CEO of Dubai Duty Free.

The company recorded sales of $20 million in its first full-year of business. Of the original 100 staff who joined in 1983, 26 are still in active service, and the current staff figure is at 6,200.

Dubai Duty Free sales are growing in line with the growth of the passenger traffic at the Dubai International Airport, which also achieved a milestone of crossing a billionth passenger earlier this month. The airport is expected to handle 90 million passengers this year as compared to 88.2 million last year.