Major airports across Asia, including those in China and Thailand, are changing how they calculate duty-free rent to better reflect actual sales and spending levels. Passenger traffic has recovered since COVID-19, but spending per traveler has not returned to previous levels. In contrast, Incheon International Airport maintains its existing method of multiplying the number of departing passengers by a per-passenger rent, prompting criticism that it should reflect the changed nature of duty-free spending.
According to the duty-free industry on Wednesday, Beijing Capital International Airport in China sharply lowered its sales commission in a new duty-free contract in February. Previously, the airport charged commissions of 18 to 36 percent of sales depending on the product category, but it will apply only 5 percent in the first year. Next year, it will apply a commission rate of up to 8 percent, and it agreed to lower the minimum rent along with any decline in passengers.
Shanghai Pudong International Airport also reduced its sales commission and minimum rent burden. Previously, tenants had to pay the higher of 18 to 36 percent of sales or the minimum rent, but starting this year the airport changed to a method that links a base rent to 8 to 24 percent of sales.
Airports of Thailand (AOT) changed its minimum rent calculation method, which had required tenants to pay a fixed amount even when passengers declined. AOT revised its contracts to lower the minimum rent when passengers decrease and to share part of the excess with the airport only when spending per passenger exceeds a certain level.
Asian airports are changing their rent calculation methods because the recovery in passengers has not translated into higher sales. According to the Airports Council International (ACI) "2026 Airport Economics Report and Key Performance Indicators," global airport passengers exceeded pre-COVID-19 levels in 2024, but non-aeronautical revenue such as from duty-free stores and food and beverages fell 9 percent from 2019. Non-aeronautical revenue per passenger also fell 12 percent to $7.57. In Korea, the number of foreign duty-free shoppers rose 28.5 percent in May this year from a year earlier, but the purchase amount per person fell 13.8 percent to about 697,000 won.
Nevertheless, Incheon Airport maintains its method of setting total rent by multiplying the number of departing passengers by a per-passenger rent. Last year, Shilla Duty Free and Shinsegae Duty Free demanded a reduction, arguing that rising departures increased their rent burden even as sales recovery lagged. When the request was not accepted, they returned their business rights.
The per-passenger rent for the business rights returned by Shilla and Shinsegae was lowered by about 40 percent from the winning bid price in 2023. However, the calculation method under which total rent also increases as departures rise remains unchanged.
"In the past, when departures rose, duty-free sales rose along with them, but now consumption patterns have changed, so passenger numbers and sales move separately," a duty-free industry official said. "The rent calculation method also needs to reflect the actual change in consumption."
