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SINGAPORE: As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect the aviation industry, many airlines are trying to reorient operations and workforce to stay afloat.
Companies like Singapore Airlines, Qantas and EVA Air have started offering services such as tours, dining experiences, and flights that take off and land in the same place.
Here are some of the ways airlines are generating revenue amid the pandemic:
FLIGHT FOOD, BUT ON LAND
Do you miss the experience of dining on a plane?
SIA offers the opportunity to relive the experience aboard its A380 superjumbo aircraft without ever leaving the ground.
Prices start at Singapore $ 50 for a three-course meal in Economy Class and $ 90 in Premium Economy at SIA’s A380 @ Changi restaurant.
Dinner in business class on a Singapore Airlines flight. (Photo: Singapore Airlines)
Those in the mood to splurge can choose the S $ 300 or S $ 600 business class meal in the suites.
READ: Business Class Lunch on SIA’s A380 Will Cost S $ 300 As Airline Reveals Prices for New Initiatives
Options for the Economy and Premium Economy classes include Western, Peranakan, and Japanese cuisine. For business class and suite diners, the four-course meal includes options like lobster thermidor and beef steak.
Reservations for the restaurant sold out in just half an hour after reservations opened on October 12, but the airline subsequently opened additional seats to meet the high demand.
READ: SIA adds 2 more days, additional seats for the A380 restaurant experience
SIA also offers a food delivery service, with prices starting at Singapore $ 288 for a business class meal for two.
Menus are designed by renowned chefs from France, Japan, Australia, and India, and include options like Hanakoireki, Kyo-kaiseki, Poached Lobster, and Grilled Lamb Loin.
Diners can also choose to hire a private chef to prepare their food at home.
In Bangkok, the headquarters of the national airline Thai Airways has been transformed into an airline-themed restaurant, where customers can enjoy meals on board without having to board a plane.
Customers eat at the Thai Airways pop-up restaurant at the airline’s Bangkok headquarters. (Photo: Reuters)
Diners are greeted by the cabin crew in full uniform upon entering the restaurant, which has been decorated with aircraft parts and seats.
Thai Airways has said there are plans to turn its other offices into similar dining experiences.
READ: Thai Airways opens restaurant in Bangkok office for customers who want meals on board
FLIGHTS TO ANYWHERE
With borders closed due to the pandemic, many people have not been able to get on a plane.
Airlines such as Qantas, Royal Brunei, All Nippon Airways, and EVA Air have started offering “flights to nowhere”, which allow passengers to board and fly on a plane, but land where they took off from.
Royal Brunei has had at least five such flights since mid-August, in which passengers are served local cuisine as they fly over the country.
READ: It is a flight that is going nowhere and is completely sold out.
Taiwan’s EVA Air filled 309 seats on a Hello Kitty-themed A330 Dream plane for Father’s Day, while Japan’s All Nippon Airways had a 90-minute Hawaiian resort-themed flight with 300 people on board.
TigerAir Taiwan took the passengers on a sightseeing flight to Jeju in South Korea, circling low to give them a chance to see the island before returning to Taiwan.
READ: Travelers from Taiwan take a ‘sightseeing flight to nowhere’
Meanwhile, a flight to nowhere offered by Australian airline Qantas sold out in 10 minutes. The seven-hour flight will depart and land in Sydney, flying over the Northern Territory, Queensland and New South Wales.
Despite their popularity, these flights have even received criticism from environmental groups, who accuse them of being harmful to the environment.
FLIGHT LESSONS
Those who have harbored dreams of flying an airplane now have the opportunity to do so, using airline flight simulators.
Thai Airways is selling time on its flight simulators, allowing guests to control an A380 simulator for half an hour for 20,000 baht ($ 640).
Customers are seen in an A380 flight simulator for a flying experience at Thai Airways head office in Bangkok. (Photo: AP / Sakchai Lalit)
The cockpit used in the simulator is an exact copy of reality, even down to the touch of the buttons, the pilots said.
Participants can choose to take off and land at the airport of their choice, including those in Paris and Tokyo.
A four-day “pilot experience” package is also offered, including the simulator.
READ: Thai Airways Ensures Grounded Flying Fans Can Still Take Off
SIA is also selling a similar experience, as part of visits to its training facilities scheduled for November. The experience will have an additional cost of S $ 500, in addition to the admission ticket to the tour.
CREW DEPLOYMENT TO HOSPITALS AND NURSING HOMES
Hundreds of SIA cabin crew have been dispatched to hospitals as “ambassadors of care,” keeping them employed as they contribute to the fight against coronavirus.
Ambassadors for Care will provide administrative support and serve patients requiring routine medical care in a non-clinical role, the airline said in April.
This includes attending bells, helping patients sit up in bed, escorting them to baths, serving meals, and assisting during therapy sessions.
READ: COVID-19: Singapore Airlines to Provide 300 ‘Ambassadors of Care’ to Fill Hospital Staffing Gap
The program was opened to the cabin crew who are Singaporean or permanent residents, who had to undergo mandatory training provided by the hospital.
The crew members have also been sent to nursing homes, including the Ren Ci Hospital branches in Ang Mo Kio and Bukit Batok.
Noor Seha, a Scoot cabin crew and care ambassador, delivers on-the-job training on blood pressure measurement for a nursing home resident. (Photo: Ren Ci Hospital)
In March, British airlines such as Virgin Atlantic and easyJet also asked workers to consider signing up to help out at special hospitals for the coronavirus.
Crew members with crucial skills like first aid and cardiopulmonary resuscitation were asked to assist doctors and nurses at Nightingale field hospitals in London, Manchester and Birmingham, the New York Post reported. Their duties included changing beds and other non-clinical duties under the supervision of physicians.
Free accommodation was also offered to field hospital staff and volunteers.
PIVOTING LOAD
With the number of passengers low, some airlines have started to accept more cargo on flights.
Among them is the low-cost carrier Scoot, which modified one of its A320 jets earlier this year by eliminating all passenger seats to carry cabin cargo. This has doubled its cargo capacity to almost 20 tons, it said.
READ: Scoot modifies the A320 aircraft, eliminating passenger seats to double cargo capacity
The airline, which began operating cargo charters in May, previously secured cargo on passenger seats.
CEO Campbell Wilson said this is Scoot’s way of getting an “alternate income stream.”
A total of 13 tons of cargo were transported both in the hold and in the cabin, mainly goods for daily use. (Photo: Scoot)
Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific said in August that it has also increased cargo-only flights as cargo yields increased.
Freight revenue accounted for 46 percent of Cathay’s total sales in the first half of the year, exceeding passenger revenue.
READ: Cathay Pacific Forecasts Weak Passenger Demand But Stronger Cargo After Record Loss
Ronald Lam, commercial and customer director, said the cargo business peaked in May, but yields remained high and the outlook for the Christmas peak season was positive.
OTHER INITIATIVES
Not all initiatives to increase revenue are connected on the fly.
Singapore Airlines launched a new app on Tuesday, bringing together payment, lifestyle and rewards services on one platform for customers.
Kris + offers discounts on food, shopping and entertainment, and gives customers the option to earn miles on their daily expenses and make payments for them using their miles.
Starting next year, Singapore residents who have installed the app will be able to enjoy overseas special offers and rewards when the app incorporates foreign partners and merchants in select destinations.
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