Hit by a sharp drop in the number of passengers flying in and out of Gimpo International Airport amid COVID-19 concerns, Shilla Duty Free said Thursday that it will temporarily close its store at Gimpo International Airport until March 28. 

This follows another duty free operator Lotte Duty Free’s decision last week to close its store at Gimpo International Airport amid dwindling sales. 

Industry sources said that Lotte saw its sales plummet from daily sales of 200 to 300 million won ($233,000) to zero, before it decided to close its store at Gimpo airport. 

Duty free shops at Gimpo airport are largely used by passengers who travel on short-distance routes to Japan, China and Taiwan. 

Shilla Duty Free said the resumption of operations has not been decided yet and will be decided based on the restarts of flights. 

“We have a contract with the airport operator to pay the rent fee based on the sales, but since we have no customers at all, we could not withstand the losses (and decided to close the store),” said a Shilla Duty Free official.

By Kim Da-sol (ddd@heraldcorp.com)