CANADA. It is with great sadness that we report the passing away yesterday of one of inflight duty free’s great champions and loveliest of men, Colin Gibson.
Colin died gently in his sleep yesterday after a recent battle with fast-advancing cancer.
He will be remembered with absolute fondness by all who knew him. Over two decades he forged an outstanding career in the inflight duty free business, working with numerous airlines around the world and with concessionaires ranging from IDFS to ISG.
Long-time industry colleague Judi Bishop said:” We have all loved Colin in so many different ways and shared so, so many memories with him. Always a Colin story to be told! His life was lived to the fullest and as he said recently: “˜I have had such a wonderful life! Please don’t feel sad… but remember the laughter and good times.”
Centaur Travel Retail and King Power Traveler Director Rakhita Jayawardena, who brought Colin into the concessionaire business in 1989 at IDFS, commented: “He was a great friend and I can’t believe his loss. It is the saddest of moments. We were pioneers together of the inflight retail business – he was very good at the business and won many awards during his career at Ward Air and Canadian Airlines before he joined us as Vice President Business Development at IDFS.”
Jayawardena said he hoped all Colin’s friends around the inflight world would stand for two minutes silence at 1400GMT, tomorrow 30 August, remembering him and praying for him and his family.
Martin Moodie writes: What a sad moment this is. In the most competitively aggressive of all travel retail sectors Colin Gibson was always the most polite and amiable of individuals, always willing to help, always smiling and chuckling. I knew him from the time I entered the business in 1987 when he worked for Ward Air. After his illness became public in July, he replied to my letter of concern not by dwelling on his own plight but as follows: “I will hang in there. I greatly admire what you have achieved in the duty free world – I don’t think I ever told you that.”
I will treasure those words as we will all treasure the man.
TRIBUTES: If you wish to pay a tribute to Colin Gibson, please click here and you can do so via our Forum. We will send all comments on to Colin’s family.
