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Says Hitesh Patel, executive vice president of the Vijay
Mallya promoted airline, 'we have always maintained that we are in the
hospitality business and not just the airline business. We aim to have
a wow impact with our services on international routes.'
'As we will be offering non-stop flights on international
routes, the standing bar will allow the economy class passengers to walk
around, stretch and have few drinks. We have got a fantastic cabin layout,
a good seat pitch and an iPod charger,' he added.
Other Indian airlines flying on international routes,
Jet Airways and Air India do not have a standing bar. It is for the first
time that an Indian carrier is planning to introduce such service in the
economy class.
Among the international airlines, Singapore Airlines
offers a standing bar in its premier economy class on the US routes.
Kingfisher Airlines has already announced its plans to
launch international operations in August 2008, when it will launch daily
non-stop flights from Bangalore to San Francisco and Newark.
On the domestic route, Kingfisher has already being lobbying
with the central aviation ministry to allow serving of Indian wine in
the skies, presumably to help the cash rich Maharashtra grape growers-
an idea that has found a few MPs on its side.
However, there is a blanket ban on serving alcohol in
the air in India and there is a remote likelihood of the airline being
granted such permission despite Mallya's proximity to the Minister of
Aviation, Mr. Praful Patel.
Subhash Arora
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