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KLM to stop onboard duty free at the end of the year

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Old Jul 29, 2019, 6:39 pm
  #1  
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KLM to stop onboard duty free at the end of the year

Saw it in the Sky-High magazine:
"After more than half a century, KLM will stop its tax free sales at the end of 2019. Until then, you can buy some great gifts on board!..."
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Old Jul 30, 2019, 12:31 am
  #2  
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Originally Posted by SkyteamEP
"After more than half a century, KLM will stop its tax free sales at the end of 2019."
Great. There are far better things for FAs to do with their time, such as serving passengers.

They already stopped on shorthaul flights on the 1st of this month, it's the longhauls that will follow at the end of this year.

The cabin crew unions are demanding that KLM compensates their members for the commission they will no longer earn. In other words, they want the airline to pay its FAs for work they are no longer doing. Fantastic idea.

Johan
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Old Jul 30, 2019, 7:40 am
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What comissions? I have yet to see someone actually buying something when the "Duty Free" round comes along where they walk about as fast as the airplane itself shouting "Duty free", and thats the end of it .
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Old Jul 30, 2019, 9:18 am
  #4  
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Good news !

One less pass-through the cabin by annoying carts and more time for FA's to do their job.
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Old Jul 30, 2019, 9:40 am
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I can't remember seeing anyone buy any duty free onboard for years
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Old Jul 30, 2019, 9:53 am
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Originally Posted by ajeleonard
I can't remember seeing anyone buy any duty free onboard for years
I'd do it on occasion, but most times I would pre-book, cigarettes used to be pretty cheap especially for those living in NL
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Old Jul 30, 2019, 10:27 am
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Originally Posted by ajeleonard
I can't remember seeing anyone buy any duty free onboard for years
I usually pick a seat as far forward as possible, and don't spend my time looking over my shoulder, so have no idea what goes on behind my back. Having said that, it is years and years ago that I so somebody buy something.


Johan
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Old Jul 30, 2019, 12:50 pm
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Originally Posted by ajeleonard
I can't remember seeing anyone buy any duty free onboard for years
According to KLM they make a profit of tens of millions of euro's each year.

hhttp:////www.google.com/amp/s/www.rt...ax-free%3famp. (Dutch)
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Old Jul 30, 2019, 1:29 pm
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Originally Posted by EricVdb
According to KLM they make a profit of tens of millions of euro's each year.
"Miriam Kartman, Executive Vice President Inflight Services van KLM:

Omdat de huidige manier van verkoop aan boord niet meer aansluit bij de klantwensen van nu, hebben we na uitvoerig beraad besloten ermee te stoppen"

Source

Kartman says pax don't want to buy stuff from an itinerant cart vendor anymore.

Johan
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Old Jul 30, 2019, 7:19 pm
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Whats changed is people don't smoke on planes anymore and liquor bottles are complicated for connecting flights.
There goes the duty free business.
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Old Jul 31, 2019, 12:43 am
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Originally Posted by OpenSky
Whats changed is people don't smoke on planes anymore
Duty-free alcohol can only be consumed on arrival at the destination; the airlines don't allow you to consume duty-free sales onboard, whether bought from the airline or bought in the airport prior to boarding.

(That said, I once had a seatmate on an Etihad flight to Abu Dhabi who drank a half-litre of vodka brought from the airport duty free, topped up with a few glasses from the flight attendants who didn't know he was tapping his own supply too, and who then slept/snored with his napkin over his face for the rest of the flight!)

Were there no similar restrictions on the immediate consumption of duty-free tobacco purchases?

Originally Posted by OpenSky
There goes the duty free business.
KLM may regret this decision, as duty-free sales may very soon be possible again on UK routes, and will likely prove lucrative!
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Old Jul 31, 2019, 12:47 am
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Originally Posted by johan rebel

Kartman says pax don't want to buy stuff from an itinerant cart vendor anymore.
Can we take that as a guarantee that KLM will never introduce a buy-on-board food service, to replace the concept of handing out stroopwaffels, unusual sandwiches, thimbles of water and tiny cans for free from itinerant carts by snork maidens?
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Old Jul 31, 2019, 4:05 am
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Very simple financial decision. The cost of DF assembly is outweighing the revenue returns and like the US carriers have opted to eliminate it (and the dead weight fuel burn).
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Old Jul 31, 2019, 4:36 am
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Originally Posted by irishguy28
KLM may regret this decision, as duty-free sales may very soon be possible again on UK routes, and will likely prove lucrative!
Too bad the flights are too short
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Old Aug 2, 2019, 5:14 am
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It's me one of the few but usually KLM gadgets for children...
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