Cheap thrills for economy class

By CHRIS DANIELS aviation writer

As the world's airlines fight for fussy passengers with ever more opulent beds, cabins and champagne in First Class, the everyday travellers in the back of the plane are asking if they have been forgotten.

Air NZ last year removed hot meals from its economy-class cabins on flights to Australia and the Pacific Islands, moving towards more of a "low-cost carrier" model - where fares are cheap, but there is no hot towel or special meal.

Movies, games and communication are the preferred method of keeping the economy-class passenger happy.

German airline Lufthansa on Monday begins its first regular scheduled flights offering full, broadband internet access to all classes on its flights between Munich and Los Angeles.

All its passengers on the route can surf the net and send and receive emails from 10,000m in the air using the Boeing-designed system.

Any passenger can pay a flat rate of US$29.95 ($49.75) to use the internet for their entire flight, or use a "metered option" that charges US$9.95 for the first half hour, then 25USc for each minute after.

Broadband internet has been installed on five of Lufthansa's planes and it is promising it for all its long-haul aircraft travelling from Munich and Frankfurt by 2006.

Katrina Cole, owner operator of the House of Travel in East Tamaki, says in-seat screens are one of the top priorities for agents when booking families on long flights.

Air NZ provides screens for only its business and first-class passengers on long-haul flights but is about to spend $160 million on a programme of refitting its fleet of eight Boeing 747-400 planes with new seats and entertainment systems. The short-haul side of things is the real compromise between price and comfort.

Flights to the Pacific Islands and Australia have become very cheap, but the big cuts in fares mean fewer extras.

However, the travel industry says that despite some downgrades of service, economy-class travellers are getting a better deal than ever before, because flights are so cheap.

Travellers need only cast their eyes over recent inflation figures for the March quarter, released in late April.

The main downward influence was international air fares, which fell 11.8 per cent. Although a seasonal fall is normal, international air fares were down 20.9 per cent from a year ago.

Murray Wild, North Island manager for Singapore Airlines, said inflight entertainment systems were very important for economy passengers.

Despite all the extras for economy passengers, Wild said there was no doubt where most of them would prefer to be sitting.

"I think every economy class traveller who walks through first or business class to their economy class seats looks at it and thinks 'Oh God, I'd love to be sitting in there'. The contrast is quite significant."

But next time you look enviously at the plush business-class seat, consider the price of that valuable piece of aircraft real estate.

As an example, base ticket prices (without discounts) for a return flight from Auckland to London on Singapore Airlines are $2879 for economy, $8299 for business class and $11,689 for first class.

Which is a lot of money for a good night's sleep and few glasses of champagne.