Aer Rianta, the operating company behind the world's first duty free in Shannon Airport, was invited to present a proposal for the operations and management of a Duty Free operation at Dubai International Airport. Up until this point, the airport had been served by a number of retail concessions, basically stalls managed by traders from the city of Dubai. Presented to Sheikh Mohammed by director-general of Dubai Civil Aviation, Mohi-Din Binhendi, the proposal was accepted but with the caveat to make the duty free double the size of that proposed and to open it within six months. The duty-free, at the time planned to serve three million passengers a year, was funded with an $820,000 loan from the National Bank of Dubai. One of the first challenges faced by the ten-man Aer Rianta management team was to negotiate the transfer of the existing concessions, which resulted in Dubai Duty Free acquiring their stocks at rates preferential to the shop owners. An advertising agency was appointed, coming up with the slogan, used to this day, 'Fly Buy Dubai'. The duty free opened officially on 20 December 1983. At the end of the Aer Rianta consultancy contract, McLoughlin was 'made an offer I couldn't refuse' to stay and manage the new operation. Two of the original Aer Rianta team stayed with him. In 1985, Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum became chairman of Emirates Airline and the Department of Civil Aviation.
Operations
The ongoing expansion of Dubai International Airport was mirrored by expansion of the duty free operation and by 1988, 51 airlines used Dubai to service some 87 destinations, with a 4 million passenger throughput. Dubai Duty Free's takings rose from $44,000 on its first day's trading in December 1983 to $32 million annual sales in 1986. In 1987 it opened an arrivals duty-free shop and was taking some $200,000 a day. In 1989 Dubai Duty Free introduced its 'Finest Surprise' promotion, a 1,000 ticket raffle to win a luxury car. The promotion has run continuously since. Passenger throughput at Dubai crossed 5 million in 1990, helping to drive turnover to $95 million but operations were badly affected by the invasion of Kuwait by Iraq. This was to ensure it took a further two years to cross the $100 million mark. The opening of the Sheikh Rashid terminal at Dubai International Airport in 2000 was to see Dubai Duty Free's staff count rise to 900 and its floor space expand to 5,400 M2. Turnover in 2001 rose to $222 and in 2003, 20 years after it was established, turnover was $380 million. The opening of Terminal 3 and Concourse 2 and 3 at Dubai International added some 17,000 M2 of retail space. It also drove the increase of warehousing and logistical space: from a small shed storing goods for sale in 1983, DDF now had a 27,000 M2 warehouse and 28,000 M2 trucking bays. Dubai Duty Free has seen massive growth and development over the years and was named the single largest airport retailer in the world in terms of turnover, based on 2008–10 and 2013. The retail operation covers 38,000 square metres of retail space at Dubai International Airport. Meanwhile, the Dubai Duty Free operation at Dubai World Central - Al Maktoum International Airport continues to do well and covers over 4,000 square metres. In the long term, the airport has capacity for over 160 million passengers and ultimately, the retail operation will cover some 80,000 square metres. Dubai Duty Free has won more 700 awards around the world. Dubai Duty Free employs over 6,100 staff from 47 nationalities, including 25 of its original 100 staff recruited in 1983. By 2025, it expects business to be in excess of US$3 billion a year, employing between 9,000 and 10,000 people.
