The New Year began on a high note for Dubai Duty Free (DDF) with the airport retailer announcing double digit sales growth for 2010 with turnover reaching a record Dh4.66 billion ($1.27 billion), up 14 per cent over the previous year.

Commenting on the sales figures, Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, president of Dubai Civil Aviation Authority and chairman of Dubai Duty Free, said, '2010 has been an excellent year for DDF which has retained its position as the largest single airport retailer in the world.'

'The sales over the past 12 months are a positive indicator for the retail sector as a whole and I congratulate DDF’s management and staff on their success,' he added.

December saw a new monthly sales record with turnover reaching Dh497 million ($136 million), which is 13 per cent higher than the monthly record set in December 2009.

'Meanwhile on December 20, when the airport retailer celebrated its 27th anniversary, sales reached an impressive Dh66.7 million ($18.5 million),' he added.

Reflecting on another memorable year, Colm McLoughlin, DDF managing director said it was thrilled to have posted such a positive year in 2010.

'Our sales have been consistently buoyant throughout the year and we are pleased to see our penetration level remains high and we sell to around 45 per cent of all passengers, while the average spend per departing customer is around $46,' he observed.

With 20.5 million sales transactions recorded at Dubai Duty Free last year, an increase of 11per cent over 2009, the statistics continue to make interesting reading, he remarked.

Once again, the No.1 selling category for 2010 was perfumes which notched up sales of Dh658 million ($180.3 million), a 16 per cent increase over 2009. Liquor and gold retained the second and third positions with jump of 13 and 11 per cent respectively.

The other big category increases were seen in watches, which rose by 26 per cent and cosmetics, which were up by 23 per cent, while sales of cameras rose by 19 per cent.

Increases were seen across all Dubai Duty Free retail areas, with Terminal 3 sales increasing by 20 per cent overall, including an 11per cent increase in T3 Arrivals sales. Terminal 2 sales rose by an impressive 24 per cent, where a revamp of the retail operation in T2 is planned for 2011.

Looking ahead to further development plans for Dubai Duty Free, 2011 will see the opening of the retail operation in Al Maktoum International Airport’s Passenger Terminal while plans continue for the opening of the retail operation in Concourse 3 at Dubai International Airport, which is scheduled to open in 2012.-TradeArabia News Service