Colm McLoughlin, former Executive Vice Chairman and CEO of Dubai Dubai Free and a towering figure in the travel-retail industry, has passed away.
Colm McLoughlin, a native of Ireland, lived in Dubai for over 40 years and led Dubai Duty Free from 1983 to his retirement in May of this year.
He died on October 30, following a short illness.
Ramesh Cidambi, Managing Director, Dubai Duty Free said: “Colm was a great leader who built an award-winning retail business at Dubai Airport and steered its growth to $2bn business with over 6,000 employees at the time of his retirement.”
Colm McLoughlin was part of the original 10-man team from Aer Rianta who came to Dubai in July 1983 to set up the duty-free operation. His initial contract with the government of Dubai was for six months, but he went on to run the business for over four decades.
Under his leadership, Dubai Duty Free became one of the largest single airport operations in the world.
He also continued to serve the Irish diaspora throughout his life in Dubai and was a recipient of the Irish Presidential Award in 2014 for his services to Ireland.
Colm also helped establish the Dubai Duty Free Foundation in 2004, which supports 119 local and international charities.