Japan Airline Offers Meals On Parked Planes To Travel-Starved Customers
Foie gras, crabmeat mousse and wagyu beef fillet are all on the menu aboard aircraft belonging to Japan's All Nippon Airways -- for a cool $540.
Airline food might be one of the last things people are missing during the pandemic, but one Japanese carrier has customers flocking to sample luxury in-flight meals on its parked planes.
Foie gras, crabmeat mousse and wagyu beef fillet are all on the menu aboard aircraft belonging to Japan's All Nippon Airways -- for a cool $540.
The airline launched its "restaurant with wings" for just a single day on Wednesday, but with demand proving sky-high, they are now planning to expand the offering.
The restaurant offered either first class or business class meals usually served on international flights, with "passengers" boarding a Boeing 777 at Tokyo's Haneda airport holding tickets designed to look like boarding passes.
The experience came complete with crew announcements, according to the company, with meals served in cabin seats, though seatbelts were not required.
Demand appears strong, despite the prices -- 59,800 yen for first-class meals and 29,800 yen for a business class offering.
"The tickets for the restaurant sold out in a day," a spokeswoman told AFP today, and the company now plans an additional 11 dates.
The airline said it could extend the service further if virus restrictions are not tightened.
The "restaurant" already observes virus measures, using only 60 seats on the plane to ensure customers can maintain some distance between them.
The Japanese carrier is not the first Asian airline to offer meals aboard grounded planes to travel-starved customers.
Hundreds of travel-starved diners ate lunch and watched seat-back films on two parked Singapore Airlines jets in October last year, with tickets selling for up to Sg$642 ($470).
Like airlines around the world, ANA has been hit hard by virus-related travel restrictions.
In January it upheld its forecast for a record $4.9 billion net loss this financial year to March 2021, compared with 27.6 billion yen in net profit the previous year.
ANA Holdings' nine-month net loss came to 309.6 billion yen ($3 billion) -- also a record -- and a sharp drop from the 86.4 billion yen in profit it logged during the same April-December period last year.
Foie gras, crabmeat mousse and wagyu beef fillet are all on the menu aboard aircraft belonging to Japan's All Nippon Airways -- for a cool $540.
The airline launched its "restaurant with wings" for just a single day on Wednesday, but with demand proving sky-high, they are now planning to expand the offering.
The restaurant offered either first class or business class meals usually served on international flights, with "passengers" boarding a Boeing 777 at Tokyo's Haneda airport holding tickets designed to look like boarding passes.
The experience came complete with crew announcements, according to the company, with meals served in cabin seats, though seatbelts were not required.
Demand appears strong, despite the prices -- 59,800 yen for first-class meals and 29,800 yen for a business class offering.
"The tickets for the restaurant sold out in a day," a spokeswoman told AFP today, and the company now plans an additional 11 dates.
The airline said it could extend the service further if virus restrictions are not tightened.
The "restaurant" already observes virus measures, using only 60 seats on the plane to ensure customers can maintain some distance between them.
The Japanese carrier is not the first Asian airline to offer meals aboard grounded planes to travel-starved customers.
Hundreds of travel-starved diners ate lunch and watched seat-back films on two parked Singapore Airlines jets in October last year, with tickets selling for up to Sg$642 ($470).
Like airlines around the world, ANA has been hit hard by virus-related travel restrictions.
In January it upheld its forecast for a record $4.9 billion net loss this financial year to March 2021, compared with 27.6 billion yen in net profit the previous year.
ANA Holdings' nine-month net loss came to 309.6 billion yen ($3 billion) -- also a record -- and a sharp drop from the 86.4 billion yen in profit it logged during the same April-December period last year.
AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
