As many South Africans relish in the ability to roam freely once again, travel has hiked up a few priority steps on many people’s bucket lists.
Gone are the lockdown days when settling down on a plane, planning itineraries and exploring locations far and wide seemed like wishful thinking to those who could afford it.
However, while we might be thanking our lucky stars that the world is ours to explore again, there are of course a few minor pet peeves that we may have forgotten about in our travel dreamscapes.
Anyone who has ever travelled on a long-haul flight in economy knows that it’s definitely more about the destination than the journey. The seats are almost always cramped, a stranger’s elbow won’t leave you alone and sometimes you wonder if the person in front of you is having a dance battle in their seat with the amount of momentum going on there.
While South African Airways gripples with legal matters of the recent sale of its majority stake for R51, Air New Zealand is tapping into the discomfort aspect of the economy in a world-first.
Also read: SAA and government sued over R51 sale of airline’s majority stake
The airline has recently announced the world’s first sleeping pods specifically for this class of flight – leaving the days of creative upright sleeping positions in the past.
According to BusinessTech, the airline’s CEO Greg Foran said that New Zealand’s positioning made them understand the “ultra-long-haul” experience of flight. This sparked an idea for sleep pods, or what appear to be modern bunk beds, that Air New Zealand has dubbed the “Sky Nest”.
The visuals look like an “entry-level” room in a capsule hotel writes Simple Flying, and they’ll be up for rent for a little more than the ticket fare.
The sleep pods will form part of its Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners, set to soar in 2024.
While we may not know where the future lies for SAA, perhaps FlySafair should add this innovation to its list of expansiveness.
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Picture: Air New Zealand