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BAA says it benchmarks its prices against the high street, and typically offers discounts of -15% or more |
UK. BAA Heathrow has slammed a survey from price comparison website Kelkoo that claimed it offered the lowest savings compared to the domestic market among a series of leading European airports.
As reported, the survey, produced by the Centre for Retail Research, claimed that tax free goods (i.e VAT-free rather than duty free) at European airports are on average -6.2% cheaper than those in local high street stores, based on a selected basket of goods. It also said that Heathrow offered just -3.1% in average savings across the 22-strong product range.
But BAA has hit back strongly at the report, saying it was “extremely disappointed” by the findings and describing the conclusions as “both misleading and incorrect”.
BAA said that Kelkoo’s data “is based on inaccurate prices at Heathrow and European airport prices at a false exchange rate”. The report also includes products Heathrow does not sell, the company added.
“All passengers travelling from Heathrow, regardless of destination, are offered a single price enabling them to take advantage of great savings across a wide range of products and brands compared to the high street, typically at discounts of -15% or more,” BAA noted.
“We are committed to offering passengers the best possible deal and benchmark our prices against those on the high street to ensure we offer great discounts. Furthermore, many technology items are offered at better prices than the internet against the websites of Amazon, John Lewis or Comet.”
Kelkoo’s survey covered five ‘categories’ (health & beauty; luxury, fashion & electrical; wines & spirits; tobacco; fine foods & confectionery), and prices were gathered from European airport tax free retail outlets and online retailers, the website said.
These prices were then benchmarked against the average RRP for the same goods in local high street stores. The ten airports were Heathrow, Paris CDG, Amsterdam Schiphol, Frankfurt, Madrid Barajas, Berlin, Rome, Gatwick, Barcelona and Lyon.
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