LondonPax
Why is it still happening?
Money?
but you have to slog through the shops on two floors to get to it
Money. BAA plc makes more money from shopping than it does from getting aircraft on and off the ground.
tragic little duty free shop that you have to go through between customs and the exit to the arrivals hall.
You are right. In an ideal world, we would select the items we want on a terminal in departures and collect them when we arrive. But we have to shift large amounts of stuff on and off the aircraft (and it has to be carried by the airline and may contain glass and flammable liquid in the form of whiskey rtc) because the airports make more money out of having shops in departures.
Sorry to harp on about money but I'm just too cynical for my socks.