There is no longer Duty Free within the EU, only duty paid. Therefore you cannot buy Duty Free on a flight to the UK from an EU country.

Duty Free is only available on flights which originate outwith the EU.

As Madeira is part of Portugal it is within the EU therefore Duty Free is not available.

luci

as Luci said when traveling within the EU there is no duty free but duty paid..

if traveling within the EU mainland [with exceptions] and Greek islands then technically there is no limit although the British customs set an arbitrary limit over which you must prove goods are for your own use.

the Balearic's/Canaries/Madeira are classed as free ports and have the same reduced limit as some former eastern European countries and non EU countries

airlines do not sell duty paid goods on internal [apart from exceptions] EU flights where they will tell you your limit

Thanks Luci and Wizard.

I think I have got it. If travelling to/from a place inside EU then no "duty paid" will be sold on the airplane.

When travelling back from Canary Islands, Balearics and Madeira my allowance to buy on the islands is 200 cigarettes, 1 litre of spirit ect.

You won't get duty free or duty paid flying back from the Balearics as they are part of Spain and therefore in the EU and I'm pretty sure Madeira is the same.

luci

capriman

you've not quite got it.

If you're travelling to the UK from somewhere within the EU (excluding Canaries, northern Cyprus and a couple of other spots) everything has to be tax/duty paid to local requirements but there is technically no limit on goods for reasonable personal use. Because of the amount of black market imports by traders in cars HM Revenue and Customs have defined what they regard as reasonable but this isn't likely to worry the average air passenger. In the case of your query this limit is set at 3200 cigarettes (yes there really is a 3 in front of the 200!) and 10 litres of spirits. The full list is here

Because they can't beat the local shops on tax paid prices the airlines don't bother carrying the stuff.

But as one door opens another slams in your face and there are a couple of downers.

1. Drink weighs around 1 kilo per litre PLUS the glass bottle. So 10 litres could use up your entire luggage allowance.
2. Drink is subject to the Security rules on liquids in aircraft. So anything you buy in a shop has to go in your checked bag and can't be carried on in hand baggage. Even if you bought only 1 litre of drink you would have to ensure it was packed securely enough to be bounced around by the baggage handlers. Drink bought at the airport shops after security can be carried on but may be dearer and they will only have a limited range.