Airlinetrends.com
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China Airlines’ A350 showcases Taiwan’s nature
As the airline industry has always captured people’s imagination, airlines can tap into their country’s heritage to incorporate a bit of storytelling into the passenger experience. Legacy carriers in particular can benefit from their ‘flag carrier’ status to differentiate from cheap and cheerful low-cost airlines. Going local provides airlines – and their countries of origin…
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Transavia offers passengers the option to order a breakfast box
Much has been said how airlines should evolve/transform into travel platforms that provide passengers with relevant products and services during their journey from door to door. Think airport transfers, baggage pick-up and delivery, duty free delivery on arrival, etc. These kind of convenience-based services are taking off in a response to the expectations of customers…
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KLM ‘Anytime You Wish’ service caters to passenger expectations
Consumer behavior is changing. As smartphones make it quick and hassle-free to order goods online, watch a movie, or flag a taxi, the so-called ‘On-Demand Economy’ has generated a sense of entitlement with consumers to fast, simple, attention-saving experiences. Expectation Transfer And, in what TrendWatching has dubbed ‘Expectation Transfer’, the experiences consumers have with one brand also impacts the expectations…
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Inflight Ancillary: How airlines can monetize their inflight engagement platforms
As ancillary revenues are on the agenda of every airline, much has been written and said about the grand vision of airlines as omni-channel retailers, in which the in-flight part is just another touch point in an end-to-end, personalized, seamless, digital travel eco-system. However, as airlines are only just embarking on this merchandizing journey, we…
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Jeju Air offers passengers on overnight flights the option to stretch out
Moving beyond the low hanging – and very profitable – ancillary fruit of checked bags, advance seat reservations, extra legroom seats and last-minute upgrades, airlines are becoming more creative in generating revenues beyond just the ticket fare. One way to approach ancillary innovation is to look at the different needs passengers travelling in the same…
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Emirates cabin crew use smartphones to take passengers’ meal orders
Staff taking drink and meal orders using a digital device is a common thing in bars and restaurants around the world. Meanwhile, casual dining restaurant chains and airport F&B operators now let customers place their orders themselves, either via a tablet provided by the restaurant or via an app on their own smartphone. Now the…
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Lufthansa uses virtual reality to sell last-minute upgrades to Premium Economy at the gate
Airlines are becoming more creative in selling ancillary services to passengers in order to increase revenues per seat. For example, many airlines today offer passengers the option to place their bids in a blind auction for an upgrade to a premium seat, while airlines such as KLM and Emirates invite passengers to contact the tablet-equipped…
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Lufthansa partners with Nespresso to offer passengers quality coffee at the gate
For years, Lufthansa has been one of the very few airlines – if not the only one – to offer passengers waiting for their flight at the gate complimentary coffee, tea (image), and newspapers at main airports around Germany, including its Frankfurt and Munich hubs. Or as Lufthansa has stated in the past: “Offering hot…
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SAS opens its second off-airport City Lounge at Stockholm Central Station
SAS will open a new city lounge at Stockholm’s Grand Central station, which offers flyers all the exclusivity and comfort of membership in a private club. The opening of the new club follows the successful launch in June of last year of the first SAS City Lounge, located in the heart of Stockholm’s business district,…
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Air France and star chef Joël Robuchon partner with Foodora
As the flag carrier of a country that prides itself on its culinary excellence, Air France in the past years has been creative in promoting its onboard cuisine. Besides partnering with many Michelin star chefs (like many carriers do), the airline regularly invites a chef to join a flight to personally introduce a new menu…
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JetBlue new Boston – New York shuttle service offers free coffee and bagels to take onboard
Routes with a large number of business travellers travelling back and forth on the same day for meetings are a very lucrative market for airlines. Examples of busy business corridors include New York and Boston, Chicago, Washington, as well as Los Angeles and San Francisco in the USA, London and Amsterdam, Paris, Frankfurt in Europe,…
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Qantas lets lounge visitors order their coffee via their smartphone
Taking a cue from Starbucks’ mobile ordering service, as well as fellow down-under airline Air New Zealand’s coffee ordering service, Qantas recently introduced a new service at its lounges across Australia that invites lounge visitors to order their barista-made coffee via their smartphone. In an effort to offer peace of mind to busy travellers who…