Singapore Airlines invites diners to eat onboard grounded planes
Singapore Airlines is now giving passengers the chance to eat lunch on stationary Airbus A380 parked at Changi Airport as a means to drum up lost revenue – and the first two dates sold out in 30 minutes
Singapore Airlines will be hosting three-hour lunch sittings with a price tag of about £380 on two stationary double-decker Airbus A380s at Changi Airport. It’s the airline’s latest venture in helping to drum up revenue that has been lost due to ongoing travel restrictions – in September, the airline announced it would lay off about 20 per cent of its workforce (about 4,300 staff).
Lunchers are able to select their preferred cabin class (with different tiered pricing) and watch a film while they dine. Elsewhere, the airline is also offering home delivery of its first-class meals, which also includes the airline's tableware and amenity kits, for £501.
Singapore opts against ‘flights to nowhere’
Although the airline had previously considered cashing in on the ‘flights to nowhere’ concept that Australian airline Qantas – among others – had launched, it decided against the idea – perhaps it was driven by a responsibility to reduce its impact on the environment.
Clearly, travellers miss the onboard experience of flights, but what’s particularly surprising is that people miss airline food. By keeping the aircraft in use, Singapore Airlines is preventing them being sold off while it waits for travel to pick back up again. Although we can’t be sure how long that will be, one thing’s for certain: airlines will need to step up their food game if they want a piece of the pie.