By Walter Ellis

Three factors are at work here. First – as we know – books sales are falling. Second, airline passengers read less than they used to. They are too busy watching movies, listening to music, tapping away on their laptops – or else trying to wriggle the necessary money out of their pockets to pay for a cup of coffee. Third, so much time at airports – especially those specialising in cut-rate, short-haul services - is now spent standing in line, shuffling forward, that there is little time left in which to shop. Get in, grab a cup of coffee and monster bar of Cadbury's and,er, that's it. It's all part of our becoming an illiterate nation. The difference today is that instead of buying books and then not reading them, we don't buy them in the first place.

17 Sep 08 12:31

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By Ray Hollingsworth

Borders was the Brave Captain flying in from the West...the fallout from the crashlanding is still to be felt...book retail in the UK is dying hour by hour...

17 Sep 08 15:11

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By Phil

Where does this myth comes from that "print is dead" and "sales are falling"? I read it in the media all the time and it gets re-hashed here. It's completely inaccurate. Ask BookScan, BML, the PA, the BA! Book sales are on the up and have been on the up every year for the past decade. There's an argument that the range of titles stocked at high street stores is declining year on year, but with bookshops increasingly concerned about maximising profits, they have little choice but to stock titles that will sell ten copies a year as opposed to just the one copy a year. Given airport stores have such a high stockturn figure, it is surprising that Borders, and Waterstone's in the past, haven't managed to maintain a presence. I imagine high rents coupled with free distractions on flights these days (films and tv shows - newspapers etc), has meant it just isn't economically viable any longer.

18 Sep 08 11:36

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By Anonymous

Having sold to Smiths at the airports for years, I have to say, they do a pretty good job. There's a pretty good reason why they have been awarded bookshops from Waterstones and Borders recently.

18 Sep 08 15:54

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By inwaiting

My experience exactly. Try and find anything other than the latest airside edition or besteller among the sweets and tat in a WHS. The staff don't even know what's on their presentation tables. Hide one and ask them whether they stock it. They won't know what you're talking about.

19 Sep 08 10:22

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