In Thailand, a cafe made to look like an aircraft cabin and an actual airliner turned coffee shop remind people of the flights they cannot take

Going to a ‘plane cafe’, says one avid traveller, ‘relieves what’s missing’. A coffee on a retired airliner was as good as a real air trip, says a customer

At Thai Airways headquarters, guests sit in seats like those in an airliner, as actual flight attendants serve them in-flight meals on airline trays

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At a Thai Airways plane-themed pop-up restaurant at the airline’s headquarters, in Bangkok, would-be passengers eat “in-flight” meals served on plastic trays. Photo: AFP

Published: 3:45pm, 14 Sep 2020Updated: 4:28pm, 14 Sep 2020

With millions around the world stuck at home because of the pandemic, “plane cafes” in Thailand are offering customers the chance to pretend they are in the sky – and the idea seems to have taken off.

On board a retired commercial aeroplane in the coastal city of Pattaya, named Coffee War, coffee drinkers make themselves comfy on first-class-style seats and pose for photos by the overhead lockers. Boarding passes in hand, some “passengers” even opt for a tour of the cockpit.

“With this cafe I can sit in first class and also mess around in the cockpit pretending to be the captain of the plane,” 26-year-old Thipsuda Faksaithong said. “It’s a lot of fun.”

Chalisa Chuensranoi, 25, said her visit was as good as any trip she had taken before the pandemic, which closed Thailand’s borders in March.

“Sitting right here in the first-class section … really gives me the feeling of actually being on a plane, cruising through the air,” she said.