Dubai Duty Free rehired 5,000 employees, sees full rebound by 2024 – Colm McLoughlin

Dubai Duty Free rehired 5,000 employees, sees full rebound by 2024 – Colm McLoughlin

Dubai Duty Free (DDF) is expected to make a full rebound in sales next year, as airport passenger traffic continues to climb on the back of recovery in travel demand, the company’s CEO and executive vice chairman Colm McLoughlin told Zawya.

The Middle East’s largest travel retailer saw its sales rise by 78% to AED 6.339 billion ($1.73 billion) in 2022 compared to 2021, but it was still around $270million short of the $2 billion record sales achieved in 2019.

Year-to-date sales, from 1 January to 26 February 2023, have so far reached $342 million, an increase of by 4% over the previous year.

“Overall, the recovery is doing well, and based on the indication and forecast for the traffic growth at the airport, we expect a full rebound by 2024,” McLoughlin said.

Dubai International (DXB) recorded a 127% rise in annual passenger traffic to 66.1 million in 2022, exceeding its own forecast. This year, the world’s busiest airport expects to log 78 million travellers.

The growth in airport traffic will be driven by major events, including the COP28 climate conference and continued recovery in travel demand.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a catastrophic impact on the travel sector, with airlines alone losing nearly $220 billion