Duty-free shopping at British airports was expanded to include EU destinations beginning in January 2021, after the UK left the EU.

In a combined request to the UK government and the EU, George Best Belfast City Airport, Belfast International Airport, and the City of Derry Airport requested that this facility be made available to airports in Northern Ireland.

The anomaly developed when the Northern Ireland Protocol's implementation was being discussed.

There have been requests for the restoration of duty-free shops in Northern Ireland's airports following the UK and EU's agreement on the Windsor Framework, which intended to address protocol issues.

Duty-free sales generate more than £900 million in GDP for the UK economy, according to executives at Belfast and Derry airports, and non-aerial revenue can make up as much as 40% of an airport's overall revenue.

Furthermore, they said that Northern Irish airports' inability to offer duty-free purchases to travellers headed for the EU “already results in an estimated £5 million loss each year.”

Restoring duty-free shops for flights to and from the EU, according to the airports, would put them “on an equal footing with other airports in the UK and deliver real economic benefits in terms of the income generated by the airports.”

The UK Government is yet to respond on the proposal.