Flight of fancy

•  
•  
•  

June 25, 2012 - 02:21

Last week, Skyscanner published the results of a survey it conducted conducted amongst its readers as to which features they would like to see on their ideal plane. The top ten responses were obvious choices such as a cinema and capsule-style bunks, but others were completely puzzling (transparent floors and ceilings), and/or seemingly impossible (anti-kick chairs). While most of the respondents' fantasies would never see the light of day (in economy class anyway), some, such as the introduction of showers, should be taken into consideration by airlines, as this seems a perfectly reasonable, and actually plausible possibility.

Here however, at Easyvoyage, our editorial team thought that judging the international credentials of the team, we could do better. So we did our own survey asking our French, Italian, Spanish and German teams what new services they would like to see onboard their ideal plane. The outcome featured some not so surprising answers, often in step with their national stereotypes, but also some fairly innovative thoughts.

Starting with the French, who we know take their relaxation seriously, we asked our cross-Channel neighbours what would make their flights more pleasurable and the results were a mix of downright laziness, insularity and intellectual solutions to existential dilemmas. Raphaël, our expert on Cyprus, the Red Sea and Martinique, wants nothing more than to sit back, relax and have someone at his feet massaging his size eight and a half tootsies. Just as big a fan of idleness as he is, Emilie, specialist on Mauritius and Greece, who, unsurprisingly (given her area of expertise), quite fancies being able to take a dip in a pool, although this might be a problem for takeoff and landing. She would also like passengers to be equipped with a head set with a built-in intercom whereby all noise from fellow passengers is blocked but through which you could still communicate to others by pressing a button to speak. However, a French response would not be complete without the intellectual element and Myriam, who makes sure the French team's work is up to scratch, provides us with this in the form of her wish: a fully-equipped library.

Moving on southwards, the Italians, who certainly know how to live, eat, drink and dress, suggested, just as 2% of the 1,000 Skyscanner did, having a cocktail bar onboard the plane - we suspect this might help the guys on the team fine-tune their suave Italian chat-up lines on the girls! Their reputation for always looking dapper is almost certainly behind another of their wishes which was to have a proper shower on the plane, along with designer amenities such as creams and aftershave etc. Again, we're sure that seduction is the motive behind this choice, although they assure us that it is simply so they can feel fresh after a long flight and be ready for a day's work. Debatable.

The Spanish team, which consists entirely of well-groomed, tanned young ladies, made some pretty predictable choices, in the form of an onboard jacuzzi, a hairdresser and what they call 'nail artists' nowadays. To be fair though, this would save a hell of a lot of time either before or after going on holiday and it would mean that there may actually be a chance of us guys actually getting out of the house on time to catch our flight!

When It comes to efficiency, there's no beating the Germans. They are the only ones that thought about how they could combine business and pleasure so that they could both relax and get some work done without having to leave their seat! And when we say seat, we actually mean a full-on massage chair, their first choice for an added service on their ideal plane. Their second choice was free use of an iPad sunk into the back of the seat in front of them, just above the tray table. With these two features, there's no excuse not to turn up at your meeting both refreshed and with all your work done.

As for us, the UK team, we all thought how nice it would be just to be able to open the window and get some fresh air!

Neil Kreeger