Dubai - Flying bars that cater to premium passengers on
the world’s biggest fleet of A380 superjumbos are set for a saloon-style
upgrade as Gulf carrier Emirates seeks to use the sky-high hangouts to lure
affluent travellers.
Out will go the semicircular benches on which passengers have perched since
Emirates introduced the on-board lounges almost a decade ago, to be replaced
by an altogether more comfortable setup featuring a table for four located
either side of the counter and below the superjumbo’s windows.
In addition to the eight seats, the new watering holes will have room for
16 standing guests, so that drinkers can still prop up the horseshoe-shaped
cocktail bar if they prefer. And almost in anticipation of people finding it
harder to drag themselves away, the areas will get soundproof curtains to separate
them from adjoining first- and business-class cabins.
Emirates, the world’s biggest long-haul airline, has “taken inspiration from
private yacht cabins” in revamping its lounges, president Tim Clark said in a
statement, adding that the design will make the areas “more intimate and
conducive for passengers to socialise.” A “champagne” color-scheme and
ambient lighting will also be used to give an “airier look and feel.”
July debut
The upgraded lounge was being shown off to the industry at the ITB Berlin
travel fair from Wednesday, with the first bar due to be being installed in a
new A380 at Airbus Group’s interiors factory in Hamburg and scheduled to enter
service in July. All of the 50 or so double-deckers in the Emirates backlog will
get the same treatment, though the Dubai-based airline doesn’t currently plan
to retrofit the 90 planes already delivered.
The company’s existing bar featured prominently in a 2015 TV ad, in which
actress Jennifer Aniston was shown being offered a bag of peanuts and a hand
towel by American-accented flight attendants after asking for her plane’s
lounge and shower - only to be transported to an Emirates A380 where she sipped
a martini while describing her “nightmare” to the barman.
On-board lounges had their heyday in the 1970s, when faltering economies and
occupancy levels as low as 50 percent prompted carriers to remove seats from
their brand new Boeing 747s and McDonnell Douglas DC-10s and fit room-sized drinking
dens in a bid to lure travellers and boost revenue.
The luxury touch wasn’t restricted to premium cabins, with American Airlines
even installing Wurlitzer electric pianos in its coach-class lounges.
Once the economy picked up more seats were added and the bars began to
disappear, with their demise hastened as the 1973 Oil Crisis put capacity at a
premium.
Virgin revival
Richard Branson’s Virgin Atlantic Airways brought back the lounge for its
Upper Class customers decades later, though only a handful of other carriers -
among them Qatar Airways, Korean Air Lines and Etihad Airways - have followed its
lead.
Emirates has said that it plans to carry on enhancing its cabins even amid a
year of anticipated flat growth in 2017 as the oil price slump continues to
crimp travel to Mideast states.
The airline already provides in-flight showers for first-class passengers on
its A380s, as does Abu Dhabi-based competitor Etihad, which has taken the
luxury push a step further with its Residence suites featuring a lie-flat bed, living
area complete with 32-inch television -- and a private butler.