In the effort to encourage more people to fly, many airlines have gone to extra lengths by offering more premium amenities. 5 years ago, airplane fuel was crazily expensive and it was hard to score great deals. With international petrol prices way down, the airlines are able to offer much better prices. This has created much more competition in the market as more and more people are opting to fly for both business and pleasure.
There has been much innovation in recent years as airlines offer increased options to make traveling more comfortable. Here are few of them:
Remember the days when there would be one (unselected) movie on small TV every 5 rows? Those days are over as many airlines, including ones like KLM leading the way, are installing large, personalized entertainment systems on every seat. Not only are the screens much bigger, but the TV, Movies, Music, and Games offered are much more diverse. Media in different languages is popular and now airlines are even producing their on content.
KLM is one such airline producing their own programs. They are very smart and have produced an animated kids series called, “Bluey”. Bluey was developed to offer kids something more engaging to enjoy while on board, helping to keep them quiet and calm. The short series is available on in-flight entertainment systems as well as online if they want to keep up with the narrative. Bluey is a small KLM plane that mischievously explores the world under the watch and care of his “daddy”, a larger plane.
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi has been available for a few years now on many airlines, but it was often slow, expensive and spotty. Now, coverage areas are much larger, speeds are up (now you can even stream video on many carriers) and the prices have come down a bit to make it feasible to plug in.
Premium Economy
In the good (not so good) ole’ days of flying, there was usually two options for seat choices, Economy and First Class. Nowadays, there are many options for passengers that meets their budgets and level of comfort desired. One class of seating that has been very successful for many airlines is “premium economy”. This level of seat usually has a little more leg room, possibly an entertainment center, and more of a choice position in the actual plane. The new Boeing Dreamliner offers this more premium type of economy seat almost throughout.