Dubai Duty Free



Dubai Duty Free (DDF) is the company responsible for duty-free operations at Dubai International Airport and Al Maktoum International Airport.

Founded in December 1983, DDF recorded first-year sales of US$20 million. In 2019, sales turnover reached US $2.02 billion.

Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum is the president of the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority and chairman of Dubai Duty Free. Colm McLoughlin is the executive vice-chairman and CEO. DDF is a subsidiary of the government-owned Investment Corporation of Dubai.

Foundation
Aer Rianta, the operating company behind the world's first duty-free at Shannon Airport, was invited to present a proposal for the operations and management of a duty-free operation at Dubai International Airport. Up until this point, the airport had been served by a number of retail concessions managed by traders from vice-Chairmanbai. The plan was given to Sheikh Mohammed by Mohi-Din Binhendi, the director-general of Dubai Civil Aviation, and agreed with the condition that the Duty-Free be expanded to twice its original size and opened within six months.

The duty-free, at the time planned to serve three million passengers a year, was funded with an $820,000 loan from the National Bank of Dubai. A challenge faced by the ten-man Aer Rianta management team (which had signed a consultancy contract with Dubai Civil Aviation) was to negotiate the transfer of the existing concessions, which resulted in Dubai Duty Free acquiring their stocks at rates preferred by the shop owners.

The Duty Free opened officially on 20 December 1983. At the end of the Aer Rianta consultancy contract, McLoughlin decided to stay and manage the new operation and two of the original Aer Rianta team stayed with him.

In 1985, Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum became chairman of Emirates Airlines and the Department of Civil Aviation.

Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum is seen as the vision behind the Dubai Duty Free, giving approval for the project to double its size and approving major concepts.

Operations
In 1987, the arrivals duty-free shop opened to the public and was earning around $200,000 a day. In 1989, the Dubai Duty Free introduced its 'Finest Surprise' promotion, a 1,000 ticket raffle to win a luxury car. The promotion has run continuously since then.

The opening of the Sheikh Rashid terminal at Dubai International Airport in 2000 saw the staff count at the various Dubai Duty Free locations throughout the airport rise to 900, which came with a 5,400 M2 expansion of floor space. The turnover in 2001 rose to $222 million and in 2003, 20 years after it was established, finished off with a turnover of $380 million.

Dubai Duty Free has seen significant growth and development in the past years and was named the single largest airport retailer in the world in terms of revenue, based on the years 2008–10 and 2013.

The Dubai Duty Free employs over 6,100 staff from 47 nationalities, including 25 of its original 100 staff recruited in 1983. By 2025, it expects business to be in excess of US$3 billion a year, employing between 9,000 and 10,000 people.

The company has been named the world's largest airport retailer. By 2008, it was making per day what it had made in its entire first year. It pulled in over $2 billion in 2018, and by 2019 was reportedly responsible for 11% of the country’s revenue.