Bartending in the air takes flight

Drinks in the airline cheap seats and departure lounges have always been notoriously down market but a change might be in the air, writes Tom Sandham.

Brands and airlines are collaborating to improve travellers’ drinking experiences

It makes sense that easyJet tries to flog an average lager to passengers. Granted, there isn’t an excuse for the ropey microwave cheese and ham sandwich, but if you’re looking to save on the cost of a flight, don’t except a glass of quality Champers with your free magazine. And since you’re sitting 25,000 feet up in the sky, feeling every gentle waft of turbulence in your carefully engineered-for-economy chair, it’s not like you have many options.

But if you’ve spent £600 or more on a transatlantic flight, then chances are you want a discerning drinks option. That it’s always been a challenge to find one in the air is a bit upsetting.

There’s even less excuse for the lack of imbibing options in the lounge on the ground – regardless of who you fly with. For most of us, the holiday starts as soon as we get past security – or at least once we’ve replenished our confiscated toiletries. But what sort of holiday is it when the first bar you sit in is a dingy pub serving desperate, drab drinks?

All of which is a familiar complaint for anyone who travels on planes, and the truth is, airports and planes have long been lacking in quality experiences.

At least until now. Because airports are seeing something of an “air change” when it comes to drinking. Inspired in part by the evolution, or indeed revolution in duty free service, the bars at airports are finally starting to see sense.

Brand-airline collaboration

The transformation is being driven by premium brands, both in terms of the drinks companies and the carriers. Among the pioneers are the Bacardi Global Travel Retail Division (GTRD) and Virgin Atlantic, along with Diageo working with British Airways. It seems other companies are a little slower on the uptake, but the relationships between these brands are setting on-trade airport drinking standards high.

“We looked at the market and decided we wanted to elevate the customer experience,” say Marc Plumridge global brand ambassador for Bacardi’s GTRD. “The brief from Virgin was to deliver something in drinks that had never been seen before. To improve the customer journey.”

This has been achieved through a partnership, both in lounges and in the air. Working with the likes of the Soulshakers, drinks consultants who have extraordinary CVs in the world of cocktail creation, the Bacardi/Virgin partnership has yielded spectacular results, initially in the UK but increasingly across the world.

Air staff are being trained to deliver quality cocktails at 35,000 feet

Training air hostesses

More recently Virgin has worked with the drinks company to develop a new training tool called “Bar Basics”.

Says Mark Murphy, Virgin Atlantic’s clubhouse food & beverage manager: “UK locations were of a very high standard, we suffered in our Clubhouses down route with consistency and quality. To rectify this the Bar Basics book was born. A step-by-step guide to drinks service. It mainly focuses on classic serve cocktails and breaks down the steps to delivery into their simplest form. It’s a foundation for us to build on.

“Once I am happy that our bar teams globally can get the simple things right the sky’s the limit. At Heathrow, our mixologists are a big part in the development of our cocktail menu. They know our guests and have the skills to contribute. That’s the goal for the other lounges in our out stations.”

The partnership has delivered some very useful brand exercises, most notably with Grey Goose. The brand has opened a bar in the Loft in Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse in Heathrow, an area for reserved Upper Class passengers. The all singing and dancing (depending on how much you drink) venue includes an in-house mixologist who becomes familiar to regular flyers. The space has been used to launch innovative drinks concepts, including the Taste Studio with a menu laid out according to taste preference. Staff members are even trained to show customers how to make drinks.

Economy class

The next natural step was to open a Grey Goose bar in the airport lounges that all passengers could access, and while the work has focused on upper class customers until now, the recent pop-up bar in Toronto proved there is an audience in economy.

“Travel retail is a huge market,” adds Plumridge. “We realised we had to be more innovative. Creating spaces where we could show people how to make drinks at home, and then enabling them to drink the cocktails that are being served at the likes of the Toronto Film Festival or the Oscars, actually inspires customers to buy a bottle in duty free. We’ve seen upsurge in duty free sales since we’ve started with this activity.”

Other companies are taking note. Diageo recently held its UK final for the Reserve Brands World Class cocktail competition on a British Airways flight.

James Fowler, owner of the Library in Bournemouth competed in the event and provided recipes with a twist, offering judges a Tanqueray No.10 steam re-hydrator to refresh their nasal passages before serving his drink. “You have to enhance the elements of a drink to cater for the deterioration of taste buds at altitude,” explains Fowler.

In-flight drinks are becoming more luxurious than a simple plastic-cup-and-can serve

Pre- and post-takeoff

This isn’t something BA could necessarily replicate but the company is keen to work with Diageo to implement some of the findings to come out of the activity. This was the aim of Nick Temperley, head of Diageo Reserve Brands, who recognised the opportunity to work with the airline and establish brand presence in the luxury lounges and eventually on flights. The likes of Tanqueray No.10 already feature in the premium classes of their flights.

Chris Cole, manager of catering business support at British Airways has also enjoyed the union. “As always the costs are a constant challenge,” he says. “More specifically, in the air the challenge is achieving the right balance between providing variety and choice in appropriate quantities versus the galley storage space available – as well as the sheer weight of carrying a large choice of wines and spirits and the impact upon fuel burn.”

Despite these challenges, BA is looking at ways to take these ideas forward while Diageo continues to innovate. Examples include the pop-up World Class bar in their Heathrow T5 lounge along with the Tanqueray Exploratorium, which also included pop-up bars in duty free stores and multisensory experiences in a range of airports including Heathrow.

World class menus

Much of the innovation is being conceived in the UK, Heathrow in particular with Virgin and BA now instigating. But other airlines have followed suit and Cathay Pacific worked with bartenders in Hong Kong to re-design its in-flight menu. Indeed, Cathay overhauled its drinks offering on board and now you’ll find all manner of fancy drinks served up after take off.

Elsewhere bar operators in the general airport lounge environment are also upping their game. HMS Host in America works with 112 airports worldwide and was at the forefront of discussions with the likes of Bacardi on its Grey Goose project.

It’s a company open to an evolution in drinks. Everyone realises the need to improve their game. At Heathrow Geronimo Inns, a UK pub operator, is improving standards for the economy traveller. With 20 gins available airside at the Tin Goose in Heathrow Terminal 1, it’s clear they mean business.

It seems airports are getting serious about their drinks offering and this will improve the travel experience dramatically.