The Airport at Shannon

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In 19 forty five, the now fully sovereign republic of ireland opened a concrete runway on the other side of the estuary. Within just two years, the airport was handling up to 100 thousand passengers a month. The food was managed by british airways - not exactly who you want serving the meals at your country's largest airport when you've only just finished kicking the british out. And so the message was given to the minister for transport, can you find an irishman to take this over? and the name that the ministry came up with was brandon o'regan.

On the west coast of Ireland, on the banks of an estuary dividing county Limerick from county Clare, lies a small town called Shannon. But Shannon is not a quaint fishing village or farming community. Its industry is its airport. And Shannon Airport is big. It handles up to 1.7 million passengers and 20,000 flights a year, most of them from other countries. It looks like a cosmopolitan international airport, but it has a unique claim to fame: the world's first airport duty-free store.

Today, the store has what you would expect -- designer perfumes, jewelry and various fine foods, with a lot of local (in this case Irish) products in particular. But like the area around the airport, the shop started out small, with a local boy from the area who would go on to change the world of tax-free commerce in and beyond Shannon.

Call of Duty: Free