Dubai Company’s duty free shop opens with Ganapati homam

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The duty free shop of the Thiruvananthapuram Efforts to restart the duty-free shop have been underway since the Adani Group took over the management of the airport. The duty free shop is run by a joint venture by Dubai-based Flemingo and Adani. The goods imported were brought from Mumbai. The duty-free stores are spread across 2500 sq ft in total. Shops have been set up at the arrival and departure terminals. The Adani Group Duty Free Shop is being set up in association with Flemingo Travel Retail and Mumbai Travel Retail, which operate duty free shops at various airports.

The need to open a duty free shop in Thiruvananthapuram has long been a demand of international travellers. The new shop is between the immigration and customs counters. The duty free shop run by Plus Max, which was caught in a liquor smuggling case in 2018, has been sealed. The cases registered by the Customs and CBI in liquor smuggling are yet to be settled. Adani Group cannot use this land as it has a court order. When the case is over, this place will be taken over and the duty free shop will be expanded. Goods can be bought from duty free shops only after registering the details of immigration and passport. Authorities said they had taken strict measures to prevent any irregularities.

The duty free shop run by Plus Max was closed after the CBI registered a case against it for misusing the passport details of 13,000 passengers and smuggling liquor worth Rs 6 crore through the duty free shop. The case is that with the help of Luke K George, customs superintendent at the Cargo Complex, duties were evaded by documenting the sale of foreign liquor in the name of passengers who did not purchase alcohol. The license of the duty free shop at the airport was revoked following the discovery of irregularities. The CBI had found that from September 1, 2017 to December 21, 2017, it had collected passenger information from 16 airlines.

No space for big duty free shop

Airport operators make big revenue from duty free shop. CIAL's half a lakh square feet duty free shop at Nedumbassery Airport is making a huge profit.
The problem in Thiruvananthapuram airport is shortage of space. The duty-free shop is before the customs clearance counters soon after the emigration clearance.