The Traveller's Magazine
In the low cost world, nothing comes free except sometimes the airline ticket. There are very few airlines opting for pricey tickets in lieu of great in-flight services for passengers. Here are 5 innovative in-flight services to be tested on your next trip.
Stretching ramp from SAS
This Scandinavian airline sure is nice. It has installed a number of stretching ramps for their passengers to use on long-haul flight. There’s nothing worse than a cramped leg over the Atlantic! SAS also plans to add small mirrors on the backs of seats so that ladies can retouch their make-up before landing without tying up the toilets.
Pleasure for the senses on All Nippon Airways
Zen culture is taken to new limits on this Japanese airline. The fresh scent of lavender is diffused in the air on some long-haul flights, for ultimate relaxation. Cabin lighting effects also let passengers unwind for a more comfortable trip. Also, the airline recently introduced separated male/female toilets.
Free wi-fi
Why don’t more airlines offer this service free of charge? Simply because so many travellers have the need to connect during the flight, it would be a loss not to make profit from it. Some airlines do offer free in-flight wi-fi thanks to sponsorship from Google (Delta, AirTran and Virgin). We’re still waiting though in Europe.
Happy mothers on Air Asia
The low cost Malaysian airline isn’t always happy to be the centre of attention, it needs to keep innovating its services to keep its trendy status. And so introducing the “Happy Mom Service,” available for a few dollars more, families with infants can take advantage of priority boarding and special in-flight treatment for their babies.
Horizon Airlines’ cocktails
What better way to start your holidays than with a mixed cocktail on the plane? Sipping something tropical, flying is a breeze on Horizon. The U.S. airline offers a “homemade” Mai Tai Hawaii cocktail to every passenger upon boarding.
What kind of services do you think airlines will introduce in the future?
What does stretching ramps mean? Anybody has seen or used them so far?
Hi Selina,
Stretching ramps are supposed to help passengers stretch out their muscles. I’ve never seen one in an aircraft before so I’d also be interested in seeing what it looks like and if SAS has really gone through with their idea and installed them!
Hi Katie- was trying to reply in the previous thread, Disqus sort of hung up on me-sorry!
Your point is well taken re LCC's and reducing costs-the dilemma being as you suggested the involvement of sponsorships being a sell out to getting free WiFi.
Our model solves this dilemma by giving the passenger the control to engage within a destination marketing context, which is like the Starbuck's Digital Network in architecture only better suited for travel.
The stakeholders are then the airlines and airports-not just the airlines. It's a profit model not a cost model.
The model actually drives retail in an organic model-also offering unique new streams!
You will see more as we go to market-beta clients in 3 continents today.
Thanks for your comment! You've got some interesting ideas that I'm sure a lot of airlines could benefit from. We're obviously all about free amenities but in a low-cost airline world, can we really expect anything less than being charged for wi-fi unless major corporate sponsorship is involved?
I felt the need to comment on the following-“Simply because so many travellers have the need to connect during the flight, it would be a loss not to make profit from it.”
The “loss” from not profiting from charging passengers for WiFi services is extremely short sighted. The gain is in passenger engagement. Offering free WiFi ensures that as many passengers who are device enabled can be reached in a meaningful way.
Rather than mutually exclude the enabled, embrace and extend!
Airlines will get it as we roll out our framework this month.. it's about destination marketing to vertical clusters of travelers as the high road- not taking the immediate, predictable revenue on a declining service play!