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Global airlines have raced to develop a series of increasingly lavish perks — from bottomless caviar to onboard art galleries — to tempt high spenders into premium cabins while other improvements remain grounded.

The race to improve in-flight “soft products” is taking place as supply chain disruption across the aerospace industry has generated long waits for carriers seeking to deploy game-changing new seats or planes.

Qatar Airways has started offering caviar, typically a preserve of the highest spenders in first class, to its business class customers on some routes. It will launch high-speed WiFi powered by Elon Musk’s Starlink technology next week. Meanwhile, Taiwan’s China Airlines this year partnered with a three-star Michelin restaurant to offer an in-flight tasting menu.

Emirates, which says it has spent more than $1bn on wines and champagnes over the past 16 years, this year touted deals for exclusive use of some vintages from champagne producers Moët & Chandon, Veuve Clicquot and Dom Pérignon.

Industry experts said the new perks ranged from gimmicks to upgrades that genuinely improved the customer experience.

“Airlines are trying to find a point of difference to attract customers, and are doubling down on soft products because it is faster and the supply chain is quicker,” said Jonny Clark, an airline brand consultant.

Supply chain problems have dogged the industry since travel restarted at scale in 2022 following the coronavirus pandemic. Delivery delays from Boeing and Airbus have led to many aircraft being delivered years late, while there is also a shortage of new seats because of production delays.

Factors including tighter certification rules, shortages of labour and electronics shortages for embedded in-flight entertainment systems had all combined to slow deliveries of seats, industry experts said.

“There are lots of little things you can do,” said Etihad chief executive Antonoaldo Neves of the luxury touches. “To get new seats takes a long time.”

His airline has focused on ironing out the problems that most irritate frequent flyers — lost bags, cancellations and missed connections because of delays.

Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific faced delays refitting their new business class seats with sliding doors, but this week unveiled the new cabin including an onboard art gallery.

It will take until around 2027 before it completes the installation of the new cabin on 30 of its existing fleet of Boeing 777 aircraft. The airline’s new first class, meanwhile, is scheduled for introduction on the new, heavily delayed Boeing 777X model. These will not appear until 2026 because of delivery delays.

Lavinia Lau, Cathay’s chief customer and commercial officer, said there had been a “slight delay” in the introduction of the new business class cabin.

“The first couple of aircraft are being slightly delayed, but we will try to catch up with the rest of our schedule,” she said. “Supply chain issues and challenges — that’s a known fact. And we are facing this as much as every other airline.”

Middle Eastern airlines were under particular pressure to elevate the passenger experience, said Rob Burgess, editor of frequent flyer website Head for Points. The airlines need to persuade passengers to take an indirect journey with a stopover in the Gulf.

“It is a case of keeping every box ticked, from seat to food and drink and entertainment,” Burgess said. “Each customer will prioritise these elements differently and you want to ensure you are on top with whichever one someone cares most about.”

The spending on upgrades comes as airlines are making strong profits. The International Air Transport Association forecasts the global industry will record net profits of $30.5bn in 2024, with a net profit margin of 3.1 per cent.

High-spending holidaymakers have also replaced many business people at the front of the plane following a decline in corporate travel. These leisure travellers typically expect a richer experience when flying compared with corporate customers, who value privacy and sleep.

Clark said passengers were becoming more demanding.

“Airlines have had a couple of good years of profits and are doubling down to offer more and more to passengers,” he said. “I’m not sure how valuable some of these initiatives are though. To be honest, the caviar . . . how many people are going to eat it?”

I thoroughly support Edwin Heathcote’s plea for a stay of execution for the stunning power stations no long in operation (“Cathedrals of industrial power are ripe for reimagining”, Opinion, FT Weekend, October 5).

Buildings of this ambition and scale will never be attempted again, with tin sheds now being the extent of our architectural ambition. The juxtaposition of the depressing dullard of a train station that is East Midlands Parkway, lying mere yards from the glorious Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station, is a painful sight to see.

On the other hand, repurposing offers new opportunities and preserves heritage but it also remembers and values the men who built these beautiful behemoths.

I was told that my dad — a young Irish immigrant — was a simple scaffold erector. I now know he was so much more — he built cathedrals, as evidenced by photos reminiscent of the iconic workers lunching on the Manhattan skyline.

John Forkin
Derby, UK

Geoff Meeks’ letter (October 12) is an academic’s view of the International Financial Reporting Standards — the accounting rules for public companies.

I was a working accountant before my retirement, with the position of chief financial officer at a UK-listed multinational, charged with implementing IFRS. I was taken aback at how often the new standards, when implemented, gave a distorted impression of the success or otherwise of our business. I can think of at least one example where a fall in profitability in one part of the business resulted in an increase in reported profit. Suffice it to say we did not use IFRS in internal reporting and we, like many companies, felt we had to resort to non-statutory figures to give shareholders and others a more meaningful view as to the success or otherwise of the company. 

In my retirement I am more of a consumer of accounts than a producer. I still find it hard to answer the simple question “how well or badly is this company doing” just by looking at their reported numbers.

Jeremy Hicks 
London SW19, UK

A NEW mega airport in Europe is set to take on London Heathrow and Dubai – and works have finally been given a start date.

Warsaw Solidarity Airport in Poland hopes to open by 2032.

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Passengers travelling from countries in Central and Eastern Europe will be able to fly almost anywhere in the world.

Last year, Foster + Partners and Buro Happold, the architect firms behind the ambitious build, unveiled detailed plans of what the future travel hub could look like when it opens.

A series of CGI images depicted the airport’s passenger terminal, main rail station and transfer hub.

According to the New Civil Engineer, the proposed plans have been finalised, with construction work set to begin in 2026 – two decades after the project was first announced in 2005.

Since last year, design changes were made to the roof, walkways, waiting areas and the bus station, in a bid to improve passenger comfort.

Further designs for the airport’s runways, taxiways, underground railway tunnel and air traffic control tower are still being finalised.

Grant Brooker, head of studio at Foster + Partners previously told Notes from Poland: “Our design focuses on passengers. Our ambition is to create an accessible building that will improve the travel experience…[through] clear visual connections.

“We believe the CPK [the airport] will completely change the way people travel around Poland, and will also become a new gateway to Europe and the rest of the world.”

Even though the airport has yet to receive planning permission, preparation work on the site is already underway with tree removal said to be currently taking place.

Construction work is slated to start in 2026, with a phased opening date set for 2032.

Initially, Warsaw Solidarity Airport was being built to replace Warsaw Chopin Airport because it was nearing capacity.

However, the huge new travel hub will now complement the existing airport.

Poland plans to build on its overall passenger growth, with the new airport also helping the country’s flag carrier (LOT Polish Airlines) to increase its passenger numbers.

The new passenger terminal will be able to accommodate 11,000 passengers per hour, with the capability to hold 40 million annual passengers by 2035.

A third runway, and other terminal extensions, will see passenger numbers increase to 65 million by 2060.

In addition to the new airport being built, improvements will also need to be made to the country’s rail infrastructure.

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This is because the airport will be located 40km away from Warsaw.

Because of its location outside the city, the airport will have its own train station that will connect to the country’s pre-existing railway network.

It is not yet known when flights will operate from the airport and which airlines will fly from the travel hub.

The huge airport project is expected to generate around 150,000 jobs in the area.

However, the plans for the new travel hub have been met with fierce backlash from local residents and travel experts.

Two years ago, Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary told local newspaper Rzeczpospolita: “This airport is unnecessary. It was planned in the wrong place and at the wrong time.”

Doncaster Sheffield Airport, which closed in November 2022, could reopen thanks to a new multi-million-pound plan.

And Plymouth Airport hopes to reopen after being closed for more than a decade.

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