A Guide to Jet-Age Bazaars

From makeshift booths where travelers could pick up whisky or cigarettes, duty-free shops at international airports have blossomed within a few years into bazaars of the jet age. Bargain-hunting is now one of the expected rewards of a flight abroad, and as the travel season begins in earnest with the coming of June, it will be the source of rich business for airport authorities, who usually lease the shops to private entrepreneurs. The goods that they offer are as varied as diamonds at Amsterdam's Schiphol, fur hats ($10 to $75) at Moscow's Sheremetyevo, and what one experienced traveler describes as "jars filled with something looking suspiciously like pickled men's feet" at Lome, Togo.

Surprisingly, local products are often the least attractive buys of all because of local taxes--or because shrewd sellers reckon that in-transit passengers will think that a local product is obviously a bargain at any price. A quart of V.S.O.P. cognac, $5 at Ireland's Shannon airport, costs $6.30 at Paris' Orly. In Belgrade, a bottle of "Manastrika" slivovitz is $2.50 at the airport and $1.50 in town. Thousands of passengers eagerly buy watches at Swiss airports, where they are not duty-free and cost about 10% more than at downtown watchmakers. German-made cameras, tape recorders and radios go for bargain prices at most duty-free airports, except in Germany.

Willing to Refund. Amsterdam's Schiphol offers the biggest variety and best prices. It leads all other airport shops in sales, which were $10 million last year. Schiphol also has the world's first duty-free self-service liquor and tobacco store, where passengers can pick and choose just as they do in a neighborhood supermarket. Another innovation is a tax-free automobile showroom with a choice of 21 models, including a British Ford Cortina for $1,500, about 23% less than the London price tag. Within half an hour of arrival, a traveler can drive away in his new car, complete with documents and license plate. In the Schiphol antique shop, 21 Dutch dealers have joined to offer a large selection of their wares, and will cut 12% or more on items priced over $280. To keep customers happy, a Schiphol store will make a refund even on a $3,000 diamond ring.

Shopper's Paradise. Shannon, where the idea of duty-free shops originated in 1952, is close to Schiphol in range and price. It opened in the era of prop planes, when a refueling stop was a must on a transatlantic flight. The jet age brought a temporary drop in Shannon's business, but last year 714,000 passengers passed through, nearly double the number in the peak pre-jet years. The thought of picking up an authentic Aran Islands sweater for $19.50, a genuine Irish tweed sports jacket for $32, or a hand-crocheted christening shawl for $12 was enough to make many jet-borne travelers reroute their itinerary and stop briefly at Shannon. Sales have been growing by 20% annually, to last year's $6,000,000. Most of Shannon's shoppers are American tourists returning home.

There is not much to be had at airports in Tokyo or Frankfurt, and the vast Copenhagen duty-free shop is more expensive than most. Paris offers bargains in women's handbags, and Moscow sells pasteurized fresh caviar in 4-oz. jars for $4.61. Hong Kong is in a category by itself. At Kai Tak Airport, American cigarettes sell for a record low $1.75 per carton, and whisky is bought up briskly by Japanese travelers for prices a fraction of those at home. Even so, in a city that might be called the biggest duty-free shop in the world, liquor and tobacco are about the only goods that are not sold duty-free.

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