DFS’ departure from liquor, tobacco sales at Singapore’s Changi Airport leaves travellers nostalgic

Changi Airport’s largest tenant said it was no longer ‘financially viable’ to run those concessions and it would focus on luxury retail from mid-2020

DFS disputed previous local reports that suggested ‘hundreds of jobs’ could be lost, saying the 500 employees affected had options to continue working

Reading Time:3 minutes

A DFS duty-free store at Terminal 4 of Changi Airport in Singapore. Photo: Bloomberg

Published: 9:17pm, 27 Aug 2019Updated: 11:06am, 29 Aug 2019

Hong Kong-based luxury retailer DFS Group on Tuesday announced it would shut down its tobacco and liquor operations at Singapore’s Changi Airport as it was no longer “financially viable” to operate at the world’s third-busiest airport for international travel.

The move comes two years after DFS was ousted by a joint venture made up of mainland retailer China Duty Free Group and Lagardere Travel Retail to run liquor and tobacco shops at Hong Kong International Airport.

News that DFS – co-owned by the world’s largest luxury conglomerate Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton (LVMH) – would not take part in a tender to retain its liquor and tobacco concessions across Changi’s four terminals sparked questions and also emotional responses among Singapore travellers.

Several took to social media to say that DFS – which has been in Changi Airport since 1980 – had been synonymous with airport shopping for the past three decades.

Duty-free stores seen at Changi Airport. Photo: Reuters

A DFS spokesperson said the group was not giving up on airport retail and that its luxury shopping concessions, which take up 14 stores across Changi, would remain.