Figure of the Day: A Chinese Passenger Spends EUR 23,000.

A Record Sale in the Aeroports de Paris Shops

PARIS -- In this Year of the Pig, a symbol of extravagance and rebirth, on March 20 a Chinese passenger shelled out a record sum of [euro]23,000 in the Aeroports de Paris Shops (Paris: ADP) in Terminal 2C. Flying off to Beijing, the passenger in particular purchased several leading vintages, including:

- a bottle of Chateau Mouton-Rothschild 1945 wine.

- a bottle of Armagnac 1900

- A Cytes de Rhyne Hermitage la Chapelle 1978.

- A very rare cognac dating from 1806.

In the words of Lynda Chong, at the AELIA Boutique: "The sale took place very quickly. In fifteen minutes, the passenger came into the shop, requested some information, selected a number of items, paid for them and left. When he was told the price, it hardly fazed him."

More and more Chinese passengers are passing through the Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport. Over a million passengers flew to China in 2006, or an increase of 7.25% over 2005. Based on a study carried out by the Aeroports de Paris, more than half of these passengers are between the age of 35 and 44, with nearly 50% of them traveling alone. Their average length of stay is 27 days, and 59% of them come to the Paris airport shops.