Can I buy non-alcoholic drinks at the airport or duty-free?

The airport retail category for NA drinks has expanded since 2023, driven by the same sober-curious movement reshaping supermarkets and bars. Brussels Airport's Aelia Duty Free added a dedicated NA shelf in its food hall section in 2024. Paris CDG has the widest European selection — terminal 2E's Lagardère shops stock a rotating range of premium NA wines including French Bloom, leveraging the brand's French identity as a positioning advantage. Amsterdam Schiphol, which processes the highest volume of international travellers in the Benelux, carries Heineken 0.0 prominently and has piloted a craft NA beer section in its IND terminal.

For budget-conscious travellers: airport pricing for NA drinks follows the same premium over retail as alcoholic beverages — expect to pay 20–40% more than specialist online prices. A €22 bottle of French Bloom sells for €28–€32 at premium airport shops. For practical travel, the most cost-efficient approach remains purchasing NA drinks before arrival at the airport and packing them in checked luggage (no liquid restrictions apply to checked bags in most jurisdictions). NA spirits at 0.0% or <0.5% ABV are not subject to duty limitations in EU member states, but customs rules vary for non-EU destinations — always verify local import rules when travelling outside the Schengen zone.

Surprising fact: duty-free regulations in the EU were originally designed to exempt goods from excise duty — which applies to alcohol, tobacco, and fuel. Non-alcoholic drinks are technically not duty-free goods in the traditional sense (there is no excise on NA drinks) but are sold alongside duty-free items purely for commercial convenience. This means there is no regulatory minimum price for NA drinks at duty-free shops, unlike for spirits where minimum pricing structures apply.

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