Dear Alex,
I regularly fly between Hong Kong and Bangkok with Thai Airways. Recently, I tried Emirates but found this carrier wasn’t in the same league. The service was much slower. I had to wait 95 minutes before being offered food or a soft drink.
I had to ask specifically for an alcoholic drink because the flight attendant told me: “It’s not company policy to offer drinks on this route.”
Is this the best one of the world’s top airlines can offer?
Neil Appleby, Hong Kong
Alex replies:
Many foreign (ie non-local) airlines have secured rights to operate “tag” flights within Asia. These sectors are usually at the beginning or end of a longer service. For example, Swiss flies from Zurich to Bangkok and then continues to Singapore, where its flight terminates. Lufthansa will operate from Frankfurt to Singapore then on to Jakarta.
It might seem attractive to sample a different airline but in fact you will almost always experience better service when you book a local carrier. That’s because local carriers can better focus on a particular route, whereas foreign airlines are operating that sector as part of a longer trip. In other words, Emirates will gear its in-flight experience for passengers flying Hong Kong-Dubai or Bangkok-Dubai, rather than those taking the first leg between Hong Kong and Bangkok.
The trade-off is a lower fare. Foreign carriers lack market identity on the route so they charge a lot less to drum up custom. Passengers regularly taking such flights learn to overlook any shortcomings as they’re getting a good deal price-wise.
