This year we witnessed new technologies being born, new menu options and some very interesting partnerships. Here's our picks of the best of the bunch:
Cycle in the air with Virgin Australia's new sky Spin Class
Let's just start off with the best, shall we? Virgin Australia delivered this year, convincing social media it was partnering with Virgin Active to provide spin classes in the sky. Incredibly entertaining and some great cross brand promotion.
https://twitter.com/VirginAustralia/status/980203082826043397
Emirates reveals the wonder of SkyLounge
Emirates impressed with a new feature for its Boeing 777X, a custom SkyLounge with "unparalleled views". We hope they plan on supplying the sunscreen too.
https://twitter.com/emirates/status/980178138109038593
"Duty Not Free" at new Canadian LCC Swoop
We have heard it before from Ryanair, but Canadian LCC start-up Swoop still grabbed attention with its "Duty Not Free - pay as you go toilet time" concept of charging passengers to use the facilities onboard its aircraft. "Since not every traveller needs to use the lavatory on a flight, it stands to reason that using those amenities should only cost the people who use it, and not those who don't," explained its newly appointed president Steve Greenway in its 01-Apr-2018 press release. So, how would it work? As Swoop explained: "To enter the lavatory, you'll need to tap your credit card and the meter will start running as soon as you lock the door." At USD1 per minute, the quicker you do your business, the less you'll pay, but be warned that if you don't wash your hands you face a hefty USD25 penalty for being a germ-spreader!
Southwest Airlines own home assistant? Yes, please!
Southwest invited itself into people's homes in an attempt by launching its own version of Alexa. This would actually be useful, shame it isn't real.
https://twitter.com/SouthwestAir/status/980384279464062976
An interesting new menu for Hong Kong Airlines
Hong Kong Airlines is "delivering more" with some interesting new menu options onboard. Our only issue with this one was that they tagged it with #AprilFools. Would have been nice to see how many people were fooled by this.
https://twitter.com/hkairlines/status/980459774524485632
Karaoke at 30,000 feet, thanks Jetstar
Jetstar Airways, or more specifically Jetstar Japan, is bringing the fun to the skies by offering karaoke onboard all domestic Japanese services. Our favourite part of this is the photo below, that just looks fun.
https://twitter.com/JetstarAirways/status/980218268924497920
Hainan Airlines heads to Mars... or is that actually Marseille
Chinese carrier Hainan Airlines and its HNA Group affiliate carriers have added a number of new long haul routes over the past couple of years, but this one might just be beyond the range of even the latest generation airliners. However, perhaps a JFK - MRS (the flight code used by Hainan Airlines for Mars is actually used by Marseille, France) might not be a joke now Aigle Azur, partly owned by HNA Group, has now added widebodied aircraft to its fleet.
https://twitter.com/HainanAirlines/status/980457517003300865
Ryanair's no #AprilFools
Ok, so this one is not exactly an April Fools' joke but definitely worth the mention purely because it goes against the trend. Ryanair launched a sale on April 1st which looks like a joke, but actually isn't. Just for being different, Ryanair gets a mention.
https://twitter.com/Ryanair/status/980361626388873216