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.
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?
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