July, 2006 By Ginny McGrath Smokers’ delight: holiday destinations for dedicated puffers
There’s been a bit of puff in the travel industry surrounding the launch of a luxury smokers’ airline called Smintair.
Smintair stands for Smokers’ International Airways, and the airline has been founded by a German businessman who hopes the carrier’s pro-smoking policy will attract the Asian business market, as well as Europeans who like a puff (the first service between Dusseldorf and Tokyo is planned for March 2007).
The carrier wants to attract a host of sponsors who produce luxury goods. Depending on the level of sponsorship, logos and branding could be splattered across aircraft, and while passengers enjoy the salubrious surroundings of Smintair's spacious jumbo jets, they’ll be flogged various luxury duty free products that go way beyond the current inflight offerings.
Smintair plans to operate jumbo jets with 30 first class and 108 business class seats, with seat pitches of 80 inches and 70 inches respectively, which compares to in excess of 78 inches and 73 inches in the respective premium cabins on British Airways long-haul flights.
Passengers onboard will also enjoy the distractions of television, DVD, MP3 players and gourmet food plus, “charming and beautiful flight attendants” whose uniforms will be updated every two years to stay in vogue.
Far from being an unpleasant experience for non-smokers, Smintair managing director, Alexander W. Schoppmann, claims that the air in his cabins will be fresher than the non-smoking aircraft of his rivals.
The forthright Schoopmann explains: “Nowadays, they [other airlines] just circulate the air through filters and pump the old air right back into the cabin. The result is saving money for the airline and presenting you with a free head ache. Yes, that's the reason why you have a head ache and feel worn-out after longer plane journeys.”
But is it a load of hot air? Smintair has a flashy website, www.smintair.com, and is inviting investors and sponsors to get onboard, as well as advertising for 12 pilots and 120 flight attendants alongside further staff, but the airline has yet to register with the relevant regulatory authorities in Germany.
According to Luftfahrt-Bundesamt, the German equivalent of the CAA, Smintair is not one of the country’s 154 registered airlines and a spokesperson for the organisation says Smintair has yet to make an application. Commenting on this fact, a Smitair spokesperson told Times Online Travel that the airline will apply for a licence at the end of July. They added: "We only commence service in March 2007, so we have plenty of time in hand. The license is a sheer formality when you are able to produce all the requirements."
Smintair is a novel idea and will certainly attract media coverage with its unqiue inflight policies, but the jury is out on whether it will take off.
흡연자를 위한 새로운 항공사 출범!!
SMINTAIRSmokers International Airline
Smokers' airline a load of hot air?
July, 2006By Ginny McGrath
Smokers’ delight: holiday destinations for dedicated puffers There’s been a bit of puff in the travel industry surrounding the launch of a luxury smokers’ airline called Smintair. Smintair stands for Smokers’ International Airways, and the airline has been founded by a German businessman who hopes the carrier’s pro-smoking policy will attract the Asian business market, as well as Europeans who like a puff (the first service between Dusseldorf and Tokyo is planned for March 2007). The carrier wants to attract a host of sponsors who produce luxury goods. Depending on the level of sponsorship, logos and branding could be splattered across aircraft, and while passengers enjoy the salubrious surroundings of Smintair's spacious jumbo jets, they’ll be flogged various luxury duty free products that go way beyond the current inflight offerings. Smintair plans to operate jumbo jets with 30 first class and 108 business class seats, with seat pitches of 80 inches and 70 inches respectively, which compares to in excess of 78 inches and 73 inches in the respective premium cabins on British Airways long-haul flights. Passengers onboard will also enjoy the distractions of television, DVD, MP3 players and gourmet food plus, “charming and beautiful flight attendants” whose uniforms will be updated every two years to stay in vogue. Far from being an unpleasant experience for non-smokers, Smintair managing director, Alexander W. Schoppmann, claims that the air in his cabins will be fresher than the non-smoking aircraft of his rivals. The forthright Schoopmann explains: “Nowadays, they [other airlines] just circulate the air through filters and pump the old air right back into the cabin. The result is saving money for the airline and presenting you with a free head ache. Yes, that's the reason why you have a head ache and feel worn-out after longer plane journeys.” But is it a load of hot air? Smintair has a flashy website, www.smintair.com, and is inviting investors and sponsors to get onboard, as well as advertising for 12 pilots and 120 flight attendants alongside further staff, but the airline has yet to register with the relevant regulatory authorities in Germany. According to Luftfahrt-Bundesamt, the German equivalent of the CAA, Smintair is not one of the country’s 154 registered airlines and a spokesperson for the organisation says Smintair has yet to make an application. Commenting on this fact, a Smitair spokesperson told Times Online Travel that the airline will apply for a licence at the end of July. They added: "We only commence service in March 2007, so we have plenty of time in hand. The license is a sheer formality when you are able to produce all the requirements." Smintair is a novel idea and will certainly attract media coverage with its unqiue inflight policies, but the jury is out on whether it will take off.