Would you fly this airline?
Spring Airlines, a Chinese low cost carrier is introducing a series of themed flights for passengers: We’re mixing up our flights with some fun onboard themes – like these maid and butler costumes. What’s your favourite theme that you’d like to see onboard a Spring Airlines flight? Let us know .. and we’ll try our best to make your dream come true.
Online reaction has been mixed:
You’ve gotta be kidding me. Objectifying [sic] flight attendants is the last marketing/promotion strategy you wanna use. I wonder what your passenger demographics look like. I do hope this marketing move is supported by solid market research…
น้องน่ารักมากครับ (Very cute idea!)
Founded in 2005 by Shanghai Spring International Travel Service, the Shanghai based private airline is actually called “Spring and Autumn Airlines” in Mandarin. Skytrax rate them a 3 star airline. Customers give them a five out of ten rating. This video gives a bit of an insight into the CEO and his desire to model Spring after US based Southwest Airlines:
The carrier flies to 34 destinations across China and Japan as well as Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia using 174 seat 32 Airbus A320s. Fares include a 15kg luggage allowance. Food is available for purchase on board. One of the more unusual aspects of the carrier are their inflight exercise classeshttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1OX9fKmKA84.
There is a Spring Plus business class which allows more luggage – and presumably a maid.
I am not sure why an airline with a close to 95% flight occupancy needs to market itself in this way? Are they looking for the last few seats to be filled?
So, would you fly them for the maids or another reason?
I’d fly them for the low cost. Not sure if this whole maid/butler thing is just a gimmick or not but it has definitely caught the eye of a lot of people who otherwise would have never heard of the airline before. Free marketing I guess.
As for themes, there is an Air NZ flight once a year that’s called a “pink flight” that flies from AKL to SYD for Sydney’s annual mardi gras. I’ve heard awesome reviews of this flight but since I live in the USA, I doubt I’d ever fly the pink flight.
Having watched Downton Abbey as of late, I’d fly a BA flight that has a Downton Abbey theme (hey, the A380 can already be termed as “upstairs, downstairs”…) Imagine the flight attendants calling you “lordship” or “ladyship” !?!?!? Hilarious!