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Standards in airline travel is hotting up as an issue in Asia. Having just traveled on two major U.S. carriers across the Pacific , we could easily say their economy trays tasted little better than a thawed tv dinner, while the business class food fared only marginally better. Asian carriers, as a whole, do significantly better in the food stakes. To United Airline’s credit, their staff hourly patrol the corridors with fresh juice and water, unlike some un-named Antipodean airlines whose staff motto is to sleep for 10 hours between two meals over 15 hours flying. What airline management forgets is that meals and refreshments are a diversion from boredom on long flights. The April ’04 issue of Business Traveller magazine (Asia-Pacific edition) quotes one airline expert saying “Expect the big Asian airlines to copy their European counterparts when the low fare carriers establish themselves in the region. It seems that economy class travellers nowadays prefer cheaper tickets to inflight food.” Alas…
By contrast, The Singapore Straits Times (29 April 2004, p. 20) prominently covered a recent speech by Mathew Samuel to the Asian Aviation Summit, giving the analogy that not everyone wants to stay at Budget Inns. Discount airlines in Europe regularly eschew comforts even in the terminals, like sky bridges and padded lounge seats, not to mention connecting baggage agreements with other airlines. And now there are plans to even dispose of window shades and back seat pockets! As Samuel says about no-frills carriers, “it may be the cheapest, but it is uncomfortable, provides nothing more than the basic essentials and, worst of all, treats people like a commodity.” |
| Thai Airways, for one, is rapidly selling off their national carrier routes to provincial destinations. These seemingly unprofitable routes are being taken over by new regional carriers, but sourcing time schedules over the internet can prove an unwieldy task. Choosing between AirAsia, Phuket Air, Lion Air, Tiger Airways Thai AirAsia, JetStar, SkyConnections, ad infinitum, is even more confusing. On our last trip to the area, one such regional carrier unexpectedly cancelled our flight without advising us, then promptly closed office at 7 p.m., without confirming whether we should still arrive at the airport by 6 a.m. the next morning. Not good enough… |
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