It takes small gests on part of airlines to significantly enhance passenger experience.

Amidst the hundreds of posts on social media every day about how badly passengers were treated by this airline or that, there are occasional posts by passengers who really appreciate the gestures made by their airline, even if a small one. After all, it takes small things and attention to the detail that can turn a grumpy passenger into a lifelong fan of an airline. Here are some airlines that standout for their gestures.

Swiss International Airlines: A sweet adieu

If you have been on a Swiss flight, you will easily be able to recall that just before the seat belt signs come back on, before landing, the cabin crew passes the aircraft carrying Swiss chocolates for the passengers in all cabins, leaving a sweet aftertaste of the journey. Brought in a lovely bamboo basket, dressed with a sparkling white cloth napkin, the small chocolate bars carry messages like ‘Thank you for flying Swiss’, printed on the wrappers.

In practice since 2006, these chocolates are made at Frey Chocolate factory in Buchs, Switzerland, though the first step of it commences in Central Africa.

“Cocoa beans for our chocolates come from the tropical jungle. The fruits of the cocoa tree are harvested, cut open and then covered with banana leaves. The sun rays warm the pulp and the beans, leading to a natural fermentation process in which precious flavours develop. Then it is the Frey factory, which started in 1887, takes over to produce the chocolate enjoyed at 35,000 feet (11,000 m) in the air. We distribute about 19 million pieces every year to our passengers,” says Meike Fuhlrott, a spokesperson of the airline.

“The chocolate distributed tastes so good that whenever I fly with them, I end up requesting if I can take more than one and I have seen many others with the same request,” says Gaurav Kumar, an Indian restaurant owner in Lucerne, Switzerland.

Swiss Ambassador to India, Dr. Ralf Heckner, also has praise for this gesture. “It is wonderful to see how much cheer these chocolates spread. I, for one, always look forward to my share. Before embarking on any important or new endeavour, or journey, it is customary in India to consume something sweet. After nearly three years in India, I can’t help but view the chocolate distribution as a positive omen for the travellers to have a successful visit wherever they are going.”

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines: Delft miniature houses

In 1952, KLM commenced a ritual of offering to its Business Class passengers, miniature homes, copies of real homes in Holland, mostly from Amsterdam on all intercontinental flights just before landing, made in Delft, a town known for traditional white and blue pottery, which is about an hour away by train from Amsterdam.

On October 7 every year, which marks the anniversary of the airline, new homes are introduced to the collection and each one of them is numbered, which helps one to get its detailed history through the KLM website or from crew members.

“It’s a cute little gift from us, a souvenir for our guests in the Business class, the highest class which KLM has. We love the smile on our passengers’ faces as we bring before them in a large tray. Because of their captivating designs and variety, it becomes hard for them to choose. And besides homes, KLM also picks other historic buildings such as old theatres and museums from various pockets of Holland,” says Debbie Ouwenijik, one of the KLM cabin crew members, who has been with KLM since 2002. Her colleague, Anich Vandenberg adds, “Interestingly, these homes come filled with Dutch liquor, which makes these souvenirs’ even more unique.”

Emirates: Instant photographs

Not long ago, Emirates came up with an idea to take pictures of interested passengers during the flight and then gift them in a beautiful Emirates branded book like frame with the following line written on one side: ‘Emirates wishes you a wonderful journey.’

The crew members turn up with Polaroid cameras in hand, which prints pictures immediately post the click. The idea owes its origin to some crew members who seized on the growing love for selfies among people of almost all age groups.

“This April while I was travelling with my wife to Sri Lanka for holidays, I was surprised when one of the Emirates’ crew members came to us, asking if we were interested to get clicked. We agreed within a New York minute and by the next minute, we were given the picture. It was a perfect souvenir for us which we have displayed in our living room at home. Like us, they approached many others in the flight. This is truly a beautiful idea,” says Anjal Singhvi, a young businessman based in Dubai.

Finnair: Diplomas

Since Russia closed its airspace last February, Finnair had to look for alternate routes, chiefly for its Asian flights. As the new routes included flights over the North Pole, Finn Air decided to reward its passengers with a diploma stating they have flown over the North Pole.

“It’s a rare route and hence these diploma certificates celebrate it. They also serve as a memory forever. Other than the diploma, interesting stickers are also given, especially to the children. Often many of them want a selfie or a picture while we give them the diplomas. Interestingly, giving these diplomas is not new for us as we gave them back in the 1980s too when we operated on the same route. It was 1983 to be precise, and those were flights to Japan. We were the first airline to fly non-stop to Japan from Europe taking the North Pole route. On March 9 of last year, with flight AY073 from Helsinki to Tokyo Narita, we followed the same route after a gap of 30 years,” says Mari Kanerva, Communications Manager of Finn Air.

Saudia: Prayer area

On all Boeing 777s, 787s and Airbus 330 aircrafts of Saudia, you will find a large prayer area, where one can pray anytime during the flight, except of course during takeoff and landing time or while strong turbulence is being experienced. Located at end of the plane, just before the food galley, it can be kept covered with curtains while praying. If your seat is next to it, you can see not only passengers but also cabin crew members including the pilots coming there to pray. Intriguingly, Saudia is the only airline to have a prayer area on board, allowing flying passengers to pray in a traditional way.

“Though prayer rooms at airports are common, a prayer area on an aircraft is something unique. It’s an attraction for many and a very thoughtful facility. When I sell Saudia tickets, I never forget to talk about it,” says Sarabjit Singh, a travel agent from Butala near Amritsar.

 

Lufthansa: Oktoberfest in the skies

Considering the popularity of Oktoberfest in Munich, the German national carrier Lufthansa celebrates the festival not just on the ground, but also up in the air. It matches the celebration time with the festival on ground, which originated on October 12, 1810, in the celebration of the marriage of the crown prince of Bavaria, of which Munich is the capital.

Usually during September–October, the cabin crew wears traditional German dresses and serves traditional specialties. For the female crew it is frocks while for male it is shorts with knee length socks. Passengers can also order Oktoberfest beer along, which is the big star of the festival. Every year the airline takes this German festival on more than 20 international routes.

“Though we have been celebrating this festival in the air since 2006 with a flight from Munich to New York on September 1 but we first experimented with the festival idea in 1957 when Lufthansa had asked its crew to wear the traditional dress during the Oktoberfest time on the Super Constellation flight from New York to Hamburg between September 17 and October 2 and on another flight from London to Munich from September 21 to October 5. In 2006, some of our crew members decided to bring back the idea again and ever since it has been a big hit among all our passengers,” says Bettina Rittberger, from the Media Relations team of Lufthansa.

“The Oktoberfest flights are a highlight every year. It’s a great feeling to be able to present Bavarian culture worldwide through them,” says Fabienne, one of the Lufthansa flight attendants, who has done several festival flights.

Celebrations on special occasions

From time to time, many airlines also surprise their guests, especially on inaugural, re-launch and route anniversaries through dances, music and food, even before boarding, exciting everyone around. Air India has often organised traditional dances of India while launching their new routes. Japan Airlines, which marked its 40th anniversary this April 1 for its Tokyo –Chicago route, gifted Japan Airlines coffee cups to its passengers as they boarded. Air Mauritius, which re- launched its Mauritius –Delhi route after a gap of three years on May 3 and 4, used the mascot of its famous Dodo bird for the first time to greet the flyers. “Dodo is closely associated with Mauritius and is part of our history. Hence, we used the Dodo mascot for welcoming the flyers back. It was fun, especially for the children,” says Anu Basgeet, from the airline.

But sometimes, some airlines decide to surprise their passengers, for no particular reason. For instance, on July 6, 2019, 10 ballet dancers from Paris Opera performed in the sky in all cabins on AF 117 from Shanghai to Paris. Not only did it make the flight very memorable and unique for all passengers, it also made news around the world.