My music taste has taken a turn for the darker (a splash of Mahler, lots of Leonard Cohen and Nick Cave, even Bob Dylan’s Stuck inside of London with the COVID-19 Blues Again).
Airports
Back in Basel as the beat goes on for Dufry
It seems just the other day that I wrote a news story headlined ‘Advent names Julián Díaz new Dufry CEO as acquisition is completed’. In fact it was 16 years ago, on my birthday (1 March).
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Airports
Anything to declare?
The volumes involved were well in excess of any allowance other than that perhaps of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un at Pyongyang Sunan International Airport arrivals duty free.
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Airports
Experiencing a Eureka moment at Hamad International
My final trip of the year, and indeed of the decade, is over. And what a great way to close out the 2010s it turned out to be.
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Airlines
Epitomising the QR code
Maria, the member of the cabin crew who looked after me and other passengers nearby, was charming, warm and professional, nothing forced about her manner, simply an outstanding, natural human host and wonderful brand ambassador.
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Airports
Shannon Duty Free kick starts entrepreneurial excellence
Shannon Airport may also have lit the career touch paper of two young, dynamic and inspirational entrepreneurs who are wholly in tune with the consumer needs, trends and concerns of our time.
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Airports
From Busan to the (Gate 35) Bridge
How long before an innovative luggage company invents a special SKUcase instead of suitcase for daigou traders?
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Airports
How Daxing redefined the power of possibility in the aviation world
Daxing is a modern-day wonder of the world. Not just of the aviation world. Of the world.
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Airports
High drama in Hong Kong, high profile at Heathrow
I can’t help thinking that all those rather confident alpha male sales assistants prowling either side of the walk-through store are more daunting than they are engaging.
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Events
All (very) black in Tokyo, all smiles in Doha
The pressure now really kicks in and I must admit to even greater nerves than on the eve of the All Blacks match – and I was a shivering wreck then.
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Airports
Plenty of dazzle in Daxing; lots of fun (北京坊) in Beijing
The risk in describing Daxing is that you might run out of superlatives. It is an extraordinary testament to architectural genius; and a statement that airports can be beautiful as well as functional, soul-enriching as well as commercial and efficient.
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Airports
Beauty offer takes shape in Beijing
It’s less than two months since I was here last but during that short gap CDF-Sunrise Duty Free has made impressive headway on the ambitious expansion and refurbishment of its beauty and fashion offer at Beijing Capital International Terminal 3.
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Airports
Snowberry, pōwhiri, Pinot Noir and the All Blacks – how Kiwis fly high
The end result represents one of the world’s only skincare bio-discovery gardens, a place of wonder and great beauty. You could walk around the estate for hours, your jaw dropping at every turn.