FOCUS ON AIRLINE TRENDS
Founder of market research agency
www.airlinetrends.com, Raymond Kollau, reveals the latest trends in the air in the first of his new regular features
Coming to an airline near you...
In this issue Raymond looks at how airlines are adopting wireless technology, coming up with innovative ancillary products and surprising passengers with their inflight catering. Could these trends catch on?
Sleepbox lets passengers take a quick nap at the airport Inspired by Japan’s ‘capsule hotels’, several airports around the world have opened small- sized resting rooms that can be rented for several hours by passengers with long transit times or delayed flights. A new twist on this ‘transit room’ concept is
the ‘Sleepbox’. Shaped like a giant, rounded box measuring two metres long, 1.4 metres wide and 2.3 metres high, the soundproof ‘pod’ can be positioned near boarding gates, cutting down on hotel transit times even more than ever. A prototype of the Sleepbox is currently
on display, to give passengers an insight into the service, at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo International Airport. There are plans to commercially operate several additional Sleepboxes at the same airport in the very near future. The expected fee will be US$10-15 per hour,
and a concierge will take payments, give keys, etc. In a later stage the Sleepboxes will be fully self-serviced. A hostel furnished with 30 Sleepboxes will also open in the city of Moscow in 2012.
Korean Air offers women-only amenities Airlines traditionally have been catering to the stereotype male business traveller in his forties. However, as a result of the growing number of female passengers, especially in premium classes, this is slowly changing. For example, among the features of Korean Air’s recently expanded Prestige Lounge at Incheon International airport is a dedicated area for female travellers. Says Korean Air’s spokeswoman Mi Hyun
Kim: “These days more and more female travellers are travelling around the world. In
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www.onboardhospitality.com The Sleepbox prototype at Moscow Airport
order to respond to their increasing needs, we have designed a special area fully dedicated to female travellers, which includes a female restroom, sleeping room and powder room. Also, female travellers can taste quality food and snacks and change diapers of their babies’ nappies (diapers) without any distraction. In the powder room, there is a dressing table with a large mirror and a chair to help female travellers to do their make-up. In the sleeping room, there are two comfortable couch-type chairs which can be reclined.” Korean Air is also among the few airlines to dedicate a bathroom on its long haul aircraft for use by female passengers only. Korean Air’s ladies-only lavatory is decorated with pink
“iPads are issued to crew and pilots to improve customer service and efficiency”
coloured wallpaper, has a diaper board for babies and provides extra cosmetics.
How airlines are using the Apple iPad up in the air The iPad, which began primarily as an entertainment device when it was launched in 2010, is being used by airlines up in the air in ways that Apple may never have imagined.
Passengers Low-cost airlines Iceland Express and airBaltic
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