Miss airplane travel? Here’s some flight experiences that don’t leave the ground

Since international travel is still on pause, some are getting their flight experience on the ground. Airplane cafes and flight experiences are becoming more and more popular. Thai Airways has not only opened a pop-up café to sell airplane food, but they are also offering flight simulations to the public.

The stimulator flying experiences start at 12,000 baht for 30 minutes and go up to 36,000 baht for 90 minutes. It’s apparently the most realistic flight simulation in Thailand and is normally only used for training the pilots, according to the airline’s executive vice president of operations Soradech Namruangsri. He adds that the deal will also generate some additional income.

The airline’s café has also “taken off.” The café at the Thai Airways headquarters in Bangkok gives the travel experience without being in the air. Customers pose with luggage at the door and sit in airplane seats. They offer dishes like pasta carbonara, Caesar salad with smoked salmon, and mango cheese cake.

Since the lockdown forced many to stay at home, the café gives the travel experience without the actual travel. A customer says the café “relieves what’s missing.”

“Normally I’m a person who travels very often, and when we are forced to stay at home… it’s kind of depressing.”

In Chon Buri, a coffee shop in a decommissioned Airbus 330 became so popular that it had to temporarily close down last June. Thousands of daily customers crowded the airplane café Coffee War, making social distancing difficult.

Many pose for photos in the first class seats. The “passengers” even get boarding passes. A customer says experience is a lot of fun.

“With this café I can sit in first class and also mess around in the cockpit pretending to be the captain of the plane.”

Another customer says she also likes to sit in the first class section, adding that it feels like she’s “cruising through the air.”

SOURCES: Bangkok Post | Nation Thailand