“I will rob you, and you will rob the passenger who came here”, – this is how an outraged correspondent of the local media, who published a column about extortionate prices for food at the local airport, described the pricing policy of the operator of the Istanbul International Airport. According to him, the main reason is that the rent of shops selling products is paid in euros, as a result of which the owners raise the prices, transferring all the losses to the tourist.
“Pizza at Istanbul airport costs 530 TL, sandwiches – 110 TL, cans of drinks – 63 TL, and bottled water – 31 TL,” the observer reminded. We remind you that the official exchange rate of the hryvnia to the Turkish lira is 1 lira, approximately 1.7 hryvnias, and, let’s say, a pizza will cost more than 900 hryvnias.
But why are these prices so high? – asks the expert and explains: the rent for the store has always been in euros, and even in euros it is very high rent. “When you convert it to the lira, the rent figure is abnormal. Thus, shop owners inevitably reflected the rental price in their prices,” the expert says.
He then refers to the experience of civilized countries where such a situation is impossible. “The state will not tolerate the airport operator robbing the public in this way. You cannot excessively raise the price of goods in any civilized country in the world because the rent is too high,” he assures. According to him, the state needs to intervene and prohibit the introduction of astronomical prices for goods and services where people are in a mandatory order. However, at the moment, the Istanbul airport operator conducts its business with the logic: “I will rob you, you will rob the passenger who came here,” the expert assured.
He also added that he understands that prices at airports around the world are “always a bit expensive”, but in Istanbul, they are simply outrageous.