Pass us the salt, please. It might not be the first airline globally to go down this route, however, for the first time in its history, British Airways has decided to unlock the doors to its warehouse this Christmas to give customers and aviation fans the unique opportunity to get their hands on items from British Airways aircraft which have circled the globe hundreds of times.
Why is the airline doing this? Well, naturally the carrier has less of a need for certain service items as the fleet has adapted to feature fewer of the premium-heavy aircraft, instead opting for a leaner, smaller seat count. With this downsizing comes a reduction of many of its service items too, meaning less need for storage, and an ability to help reignite fond feelings of the carrier at home, an emerging trend we’ve dubbed as Flygge. While there’s also the revenue generating element, we don’t see this kind of event bolstering the finances of the carrier in any significant way although the site to order these from is already straining from demand.
Reflecting the new range of items available on board, customers and collectors can order bespoke British Airways inflight dining items such as William Edwards plates, soup bowls, cups, saucers and even a humble butter dish, allowing them to create an authentic First Class flying experience at home over the festive period.
It doesn’t stop there though, people can pick up bread baskets, (cold) hot towels, hot towel plates, champagne flutes, coasters and even the Club World casserole dish.
But BA aren’t just looking to help set your dining tables. And for anybody looking for the ultimate Christmas gift, for a limited time there is the opportunity to purchase a piece of history with items such as aircraft trolleys and canisters taken from the Boeing 747, which British Airways has now fully retired. For those comfy moments, the airline is also selling slippers and day blankets.
Carolina Martinoli, British Airways’ Director of Brand and Customer Experience, said: “This is an incredible one-off opportunity for people to bring the magic of flying with British Airways in to their own homes. We know that these special items will fly and we are delighted to be able to offer them in time for Christmas to give people the opportunity to make it memorable during a difficult year.” While that might be true, it’s good to see British Airways now right sizing its catering and inflight product storage too, which will help reduce overheads.
TheDesignAir 