I’m a big fan of coffee — I drink a lot of it at home, and enjoy it even more when traveling. Along those lines, we haven’t seen airlines do much to innovate coffee service in economy. However, one European carrier is testing something very cool, and I hope the trial proves successful.
In this post:
Eurowings’ innovative coffee cart is awesome
A Fly Guy’s Cabin Crew Lounge reports on a new concept that German ultra low cost carrier Eurowings is currently trialing. Specifically, the airline has introduced an inflight coffee cart, which can dispense everything from espressos, to cappuccinos, to macchiatos, to hot chocolate, at the push of a button.
The cart comes equipped with its own battery, water, and milk supply, so it’s easy for flight attendants to offer this service. Since Eurowings is an ultra low cost carrier, everything from the machine is available for purchase.
Could we see this concept expand, prove successful?
As it currently stands, virtually every airline in the world only serves drip coffee in economy. While I actually like a good cup of drip coffee, there’s no denying that the kind found on airplanes isn’t generally going to be the best, and is maybe even borderline disgusting, given the questionable cleanliness of the water tanks. Nonetheless, many of us still end up drinking it.
Many airlines will serve espresso-based drinks in premium cabins. Not only do these often taste better, but the good thing is that the drinks usually involve a lot less water from the tanks (since water is only used for an espresso shot).
So what Eurowings is doing here is creative. The airline is serving coffee that’s going to be way better than you’re typically going to find in economy. Could this work on a more widespread basis? The topic of logistics and willingness to pay come to mind.
While this coffee cart looks easy for crews to use, it’s also another piece of equipment that has the potential to fail. I mean, half the time these kinds of coffee machines seem to be glitching at breakfast buffets, so I imagine there’s the potential for more issues at 35,000 feet. The coffee machine also takes up an entire cart, and galley space is really limited, so that’s quite a space “investment.”
Then there’s the topic of willingness to pay. Imagine if Emirates had one of these in economy, for after dinner drinks. How cool would that be? I think that’s probably a long shot, though. If these coffee drinks were complimentary, demand would be massive, and it would also probably considerably slow down the service, given how many people would want a drink from here.
So it does seem to me like an airline with a buy on board service would be best positioned to offer something like this. Would people be willing to pay a few bucks for a coffee from this machine, in lieu of drip coffee, for airlines selling it? I imagine there would be some interest, but I’m not sure there would be enough to justify it taking up a whole cart.
Bottom line
Eurowings is trialing a coffee cart cart in economy, where there’s a machine that can prepare coffee drinks and hot chocolate for purchase. This is the most interesting concept we’ve seen when it comes to coffee in economy, so I hope this proves successful.
What do you make of Eurowings’ coffee cart concept?
Very clever, and some airlines will watch the result. Also imagine the financial perspective if it was aligned with a coffee partner.
A different comment... about the water. There's constant talk about the quality of water from the internal tanks, which seems reasonable...but when was the last time we read an article about passengers getting sick from the water supply on an aircraft?
...and in Asia, they're banning power banks.
Even in the absence of a solid definition, Eurowings most definitely doesn't qualify as a ULCC in a universe that also contains Wizz Air and Ryanair. Ben tends to be pretty liberal with the term, sometimes to the point of losing all meaning, but still.
If we take Southwest or Jetblue as the original LCCs (in contrast with legacy 'full-service' airlines), then the likes of Ryanair, AirAsia or Cebu Pacific perfected the model to an...
Even in the absence of a solid definition, Eurowings most definitely doesn't qualify as a ULCC in a universe that also contains Wizz Air and Ryanair. Ben tends to be pretty liberal with the term, sometimes to the point of losing all meaning, but still.
If we take Southwest or Jetblue as the original LCCs (in contrast with legacy 'full-service' airlines), then the likes of Ryanair, AirAsia or Cebu Pacific perfected the model to an absurd degree to become ULCCs. At the same time, there are carriers that are simply lower cost base offshoots of their parent airlines, and EW is just that. If EW were an ULCC, then LH would have to be one as well.
Agreed.
I would say "Lufthansa's low-cost subsidiary" i.e. where they pay their staff less than the legacy carrier.
Love it. Would work on European carriers. Imagine this on Alitalia/ITA! Could work well on ME3 too. Would not work so well on American carriers where folks don't drink espresso or capuccino as much. If the machine did Starbucks double chai extra foam soy milk double pump vanilla lattes then maybe it would work in the US lol
Saugeil!!!
my first thought was - that must be quite the battery...
As Peter already mentioned; what made you describe Eurowings (who took over intra-European routes from the LH parent company at all German airports except Frankfurt [FRA] and Munich [MUC]) as ultra low cost carrier?
This is awesome, I hope it catches on!
why do you refer to Eurowings as ultra low cost?
Reminds me of this meme:
https://64.media.tumblr.com/2aa36fd3165fe6918ed23769dd050359/tumblr_inline_o33af0aw1Q1te52kh_500.jpg
(warning, contains cultural stereotypes)
Europeans are much more discriminating about their coffee quality than Americans and coffee doesn't have the level of penetration in Asia for something like this to be as big of a hit but kudos for the concept.
And, yes, this is just an airline version of what is available in hotels, hospital waiting rooms and bus stations even in the US. I may have missed it but I didn't see that it uses bottled water so still likely uses airplane water.
Another ChatGPTim fluff.
"coffee doesn't have the level of penetration in Asia"
Where did you get your data? DOT?
and you truly don't realize that the percentage of coffee drinkers in Asia is the same as the US or Europe or S. America?
@Eskimo
LOL it's an absurd comment. Vietnam and Indonesia have some of the best coffee/coffee cultures on Earth. Coffee chains and independent shops proliferate in Tokyo, Hong Kong, Shanghai, every major city in Asia. I could go on but it's Saturday and I'm just killing time before my alma mater wins the ACC championship.
I would assume that the water is stored in a big canister in the trolley. This will most likely be filled with fresh water in the catering facility.
it would be ideal if it were bottled or at least commercially filtered water. I would love for someone to be able to confirm
I wouldn’t consider Eurowings an ULTRA low cost carrier (ULCC) but rather a low cost carrier (LCC) because as a frequent traveler (Gold) with United, Lufthansa, Air Canada, ANA lounge access is granted and they mostly use the regular terminals (and not some remote ULCC terminals) and fly to the actual city (instead of flying to Hahn/Weeze/Girona which are >1h away from Frankfurt/Dortmund/Barcelona). Also, Eurowings does have a (European) business class, is a network carrier...
I wouldn’t consider Eurowings an ULTRA low cost carrier (ULCC) but rather a low cost carrier (LCC) because as a frequent traveler (Gold) with United, Lufthansa, Air Canada, ANA lounge access is granted and they mostly use the regular terminals (and not some remote ULCC terminals) and fly to the actual city (instead of flying to Hahn/Weeze/Girona which are >1h away from Frankfurt/Dortmund/Barcelona). Also, Eurowings does have a (European) business class, is a network carrier (rather than point-to-point), has real seats and real tray tables.
On the other hand, in the cheapest fare only a personal item is allowed (it’s not enforced though) and airport check in costs extra (unlike the ULCC, Eurowings does not close online check in couple hours before departure).
A colleague of mine has a theory about airline served drinks; “If it doesn’t come from a sealed bottle or can …. don’t drink it”.
He is married to an ex-FA, she convinced him of the virtues of abstinence when it comes to onboard drinks.
is him Frank Lorenzo? Heard about the same
While I wouldn’t necessarily drink tap water from the lavatories, I do not see any risk drinking aircraft coffee, tea, juice or coke from a big bottle etc.
Yeah sure, in theory a flight attendant could’ve spit in the Coke bottle or juice carton between flights….but not likely as other attendants are around. (Then you shouldn’t go to restaurants).
And tea/coffee is safe not only because it is boiled but also because the canisters...
While I wouldn’t necessarily drink tap water from the lavatories, I do not see any risk drinking aircraft coffee, tea, juice or coke from a big bottle etc.
Yeah sure, in theory a flight attendant could’ve spit in the Coke bottle or juice carton between flights….but not likely as other attendants are around. (Then you shouldn’t go to restaurants).
And tea/coffee is safe not only because it is boiled but also because the canisters are frequently cleaned and desinfected.
That’s why we do not read constant reports of frequent travellers with Diarrhea because they had an onboard coffee.
Looks so cool.
Love it!!