Sky-high luxury
Airlines compete not only in the number of aircraft, the number of passengers carried and the length of routes. The appearance of Arab carriers in the sky inevitably led to the emergence of another aspect of aviation competition - in the level of luxury. And of course, Eastern sheikhs set the tone on regular flights.
(Total 19 photos)
1. The next round of the luxury race was started by Etihad from the UAE. For owners of especially fat wallets who are no longer satisfied with first-class service, a super premium option is now available - the residence. This is almost a full-fledged double two-room suite - with a living room and a bedroom. The last one has a real double bed.
2. True, even a super-premium passenger will not be able to fall asleep on the ground and crawl out from under the blanket already at the destination point - aviation security rules require that during takeoff and landing be in a sitting position and be wearing a seat belt. For the same reason, the wall of the living room facing the common corridor does not reach the ceiling. Everything is in order in the bedroom with privacy - the partitions are deaf, the door is locked from the inside.
3. Passengers of a two-room suite also have a separate toilet with a shower and their own ... butler (that is, a butler). And all because a person who laid out the annual earnings of an economy class cabin occupant for a flight does not have to wait until ordinary flight attendants serve the rest of the passengers.
4. The inhabitants of the "simple" first class are also not offended - everyone has their own single compartment. At the same time, the central aisle of the cabin looks more like a train than an airplane.
5. The trick of this arrangement is that it is not a chair that unfolds into a sleeping place, but a sofa at the opposite wall of the compartment. The result is a full two-meter bed.
6. And for those who can’t sleep even in such conditions, there is a bar and a wardroom.
7. The bathroom is not individual, but also with a shower. There is not much water on board, so the showers use four-minute cycles.
8. Etihad's main competitor, the Dubai-based Emirates, is considered almost the standard of premium among scheduled air carriers, but so far it can only boast of first-class cabins with a traditional layout.
9. Emirates focuses on service and maintenance. Own mini-bar and servo-driven porthole blinds are a trifle, but nice.
10. Nevertheless, in the near future we should expect something like this from the Dubai company. Emirates leads the Arab carriers in terms of traffic volume and will not want to be left behind in terms of luxury.
11. In Southeast Asia, Singapore Airlines competes with the Arabs in terms of service. Here the bet is on comfort and, of course, technology - each passenger has his own 23-inch monitor.
12. Armchairs designed in collaboration with BMW and laid out in a bed measuring 90 × 210 centimeters.
13. Meals for premium class passengers - for airlines, this is a separate reason to compete. The menu is developed by famous chefs, and a special order can be made a day before departure - here the imagination is practically unlimited.
14. Unlike competitors from the United Arab Emirates, the Qatari state-owned airline has not relied on traditional Arab values, but on modern design and technology.
15. So, the main reason for boasting of the Qataris today is that they were the first to receive the most modern long-haul airliner Airbus A350 into commercial operation.
16. True, on it, like on the new Boeing 787, there is no first class - only business and economic.
17. The eccentric style of the main owner of the British Virgin Atlantic, billionaire Richard Branson, is felt literally in everything - from the unusual diagonal arrangement of seats to the famous pink lighting in the cabin.
18. By the way, full-fledged bars also appeared for the first time on the Boeing 747 of this airline.
19. Armchairs are laid out in a horizontal bed up to 208 centimeters long, but slightly curved and tapering at the legs. Perhaps for this reason, the original layout of the cabin did not take root with other carriers.
Keywords: Competition | Flight | Luxury | Aircraft