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Flights to nowhere, takeaway airline food: Asia’s travel junkies grounded by pandemic resort to unusual offerings
- Since global travel was upended in the wake of Covid-19, once avid travellers across Asia have been stuck at home pining for the flying experience
- Airlines have been quick to offer something to scratch that travel itch, from merchandise and takeaway in-flight meals to literal flights to nowhere
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Indonesian Rubi Haliman, used to take to the skies four to six times a month for his work in the fisheries industry. But because of the coronavirus pandemic, the 51-year-old has been grounded since March. He misses flying so much that he has developed a new habit: ordering in-flight meals.
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“I missed flying and seeing food carts moving in the aisle of the plane. [The food is] enough to overcome the feeling of missing in-flight meals,” said the frequent flier, who has already planned his next order from Aerofood ACS, the catering company for Indonesia’s flag carrier Garuda Indonesia. Having tried the spinach and pastrami quiche and a rice set (where the rice is cooked with kaffir lime leaves), Haliman now has his eyes on the nasi pandan (rice cooked with the juice from pandan leaves) set menu.
Unusual though it may be, Haliman is not alone. In fact, he only found out about this alternative culinary option when he saw a friend’s post about ordering airline food on Instagram.
In the months since Covid-19 spread rapidly around the world, upending global travel in its wake, once avid travellers have been stuck at home pining for the days when they could jet off to beach destinations or for city trips. Some countries with a larger hinterland have turned to domestic tourism, but the travel industry is largely muted and prospects of opening international borders now hinge on a reliable vaccine – which experts say is months or even a year away.
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Leaving the likes of Haliman trying to scratch their travel itch with purchases from airlines that, in more normal times, they might never have given a second look. Korean Air, for example, has seen a surge in purchases of its Lego-like interlocking plastic brick toys of the airline’s B777 cabin and airport check-in zone, which it said have “attracted a lot of attention from the people who miss air travel”.
Some are even paying hundreds of dollars to take a flight that goes nowhere. On Saturday, Brunei Airlines launched its dine and fly sightseeing tour, an 85-minute trip over Brunei’s coast and the island of Borneo, complete with brunch and live commentary from the pilot. A week earlier, EVA Air’s Hello Kitty plane took off from Taiwan’s largest airport to fly over the northeast cape and circle Japan’s Ryukyu Islands before heading home. While it is unclear how much Brunei Airlines’ flight to nowhere costs, EVA Air’s three-hour one set travellers back NT$5,288 (US$180) for economy class and NT$6,288 for business class. Both airlines’ inaugural flights to nowhere were full.
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