Duty Free Cigarette Prices airline, airport and ships.
Published by The Duty Free Advisor: Editor on 2012-07-01
The sale and marketing of tobacco products is restricted in various parts of the world and these restrictions are increasing all the time. From September 1st 2012, Australia will, in effect, ban the personal importation of tobacco products and the sale of cigarettes in their duty free arrivals stores, by reducing the allowances to an impractical levl. Such restrictions already exist in territories such as Barbados, Hong Kong and Singapore.
Likewise, there are rules in some countries known as "distance selling" regulations which refer to the sale of tobacco products by post and delivered across borders. Some countries do not permit this business and other impose a limit on what you can buy before you pay import duty on these goods. It is advisable to check any such rules before you engage in the purchase of such cigarette offers online.
Our sister website dutyfreeonarrival.com features a global search for duty free and tax free shopping, this can be reached by clicking the home link above. Here, you can search all the available travel outlets by destination, city and travel mode. For example, if you are travelling on a cruise or an airline, you can select your destination and a local duty free price list will be linked to that page, if it is available.
As yet, many duty free retailers have not published detailed online catalogues and prices, this is why the link is yet to be added. In some places, such as in Europe, most retailers will not publish cigarette or other tobacco product prices as this may be illegal in their country of operation. Others choose not to publish details of the largest demand product, cigarettes as it is now deemed as unethical to do so.
When travelling within the European Union (EU), the sale of tax free or duty free cigarettes is not permitted. There is no duty free allowance for tobaccos when moving from one EU member State to another. All tobacco products (and other products too, such as wines and spirits) are tax-paid goods. However, there may be a differential in the price of cigarettes between countries due to one country imposing a lower tax than another EU country. For example, this is the case when travelling from The United Kingdom or Ireland to Spain or Portugal. But, none of these EU prices are tax-free or duty free even if the goods are sold in an airport.
Airlines do not tend to sell cigarettes, cigars or tobacco on intra-EU territory flights (i.e. from France to Germany) as they encounter complications with the various customs authorities related to the tax due on these specific products. It is safe to assume that if you are travelling within the EU, from one member state to another, you will not be able to buy cigarettes on board the flight.
On European Ferries, travelling from one EU Country to another, cigarettes and tobacco products are often available, but these goods are tax-paid and not duty free. The products sold are often sourced from an EU State where the taxes and duties are lower. This is why the prices appear cheaper to some travellers, whose tobacco prices are much higher.
Belgium is a case in point and there is a border town called Adinkerke, located next to Dunkirk in France, where you will find many specialist shops selling tobaccos, liquors and beers.
As and when more restrictions are introduced, we will add this to the relevant travel point pages on our duty free search site. This should at least assist you to realise that it would be unwise to buy cigarettes at your outbound airport as the importation at your travel destination is banned.
Airlines tend to be the best at publishing their inflight duty free catalogues and duty free price list and again a link to these services can be found by searching your destination country or city to find the airline onboard sales link.
This website and our affiliate sites are designed to provide you with up to date and comprehensive duty free shopping information including all the relevant rules and regulation. We neither support or object to the sale of tobacco products in the duty free travel retail market, rather we understand that where the purchase, sale and marketing of these products is legal, there is a validity to providing this information to travelling shoppers.
