Airport Shopping

All UK Airports have shopping facilities both Landside (before checking in) and Airside (after checking in). Typical landside facilities will normally include cafés and newsagents, and larger airports may also have pharmacies, travel accessories, and music stores. Once airside, passengers will find the usual array of bookshops, restaurants and coffee shops in addition to the Duty Free shop, which will sell products such as alcohol, cigarettes, perfume, sunglasses and jewellery at tax free prices. The shop size and its range of products sold will vary depending on the size of the airport. Other shops may include electrical retailers, which offer tax free prices on the latest technology, along with toy shops, luggage stores and clothes shops.

In some cases, items bought in duty free may be collected on the passenger's return to the UK, or even delivered to their home. Some airports also have an inwards duty free shop, where arriving passengers can purchase duty free items after landing.

If you are travelling to an EU country, you may not be permitted to buy duty free products. This is controlled by you having to produce your boarding card at the till. However, in some cases, the duty free shop may subsidise the cost of the product for EU travellers.

You should bear in mind that most countries have their own restrictions on the amount of duty free items you can bring in with you. Always check before buying if you are unsure. You should also consider whether you are going to use the items whilst away or are you going to bring them home with you? If you bring them back, then they will count towards your Customs allowance (e.g. 200 cigarettes and 1 litre of spirits when arriving from a country outside the EU). It's definitely worth checking whether the items are cheaper in your country of destination, as it may be better to buy them there instead.