Airlines’ New Attractions Range From Vice to Virtue

As airlines become increasingly creative in trying to woo passengers, they apparently can’t decide whether to appeal to hedonism or virtue.

Some international carriers believe a bit of vice--such as gambling--can spice up the long hours in the air, while at least one has begun catering to Middle Eastern religious values by allowing women to travel separately from men.

Britain’s Virgin Atlantic Airways is planning casinos in the sky. Video roulette, blackjack and poker games will be on flights between London and Hong Kong beginning in February. Virgin said it may promote the gambling by putting a real roulette wheel and croupiers in the lounges of its Airbus A340 jets.

Virgin’s rival, British Airways, thinks it might be better to cater to morality--at least on flights between London and Saudi Arabia. It will offer a 54-seat, nonsmoking “family cabin” to “women traveling alone or with their children, with only their male relatives permitted to travel with them.” Unaccompanied men will have to sit elsewhere.

Although mixed seating has not been a problem in the past for British Airways, the carrier said its market research found that Arab travelers could be sold on the idea. The Muslim view of alcohol won’t extend to the family cabin, where anyone of legal age can get a drink.

Airline analysts are waiting to see whether these approaches improve business for the carriers. They point out that every passenger counts in the very competitive and high-cost industry.

In recent years, most big airlines have sought to accommodate passengers by offering a choice of movies, personal viewing screens, in-flight shopping and added music channels.

Stephen Clapham, who follows airlines for Credit Lyonnaise Securities in London, was not ready to venture an opinion as to how Arabs will respond to British Airways’ approach, but he said Virgin’s gambling will help ease the boredom on flights that can last 13 hours or longer.

“I’m sure it will be profitable for them,” Clapham said. “People love to gamble.”

Meanwhile, the debate over in-flight smoking may be heating up.

America now has Freedom Air, with charter flights on which tobacco fiends can light up, since smoking is banned from virtually every scheduled domestic U.S. flight.

The appeal of the smoke-filled cabin may be limited, however. Freedom Air’s inaugural flight on Sept. 28 was only about a third full, and many passengers were curious journalists and travel agents.

Nonsmoking flights are becoming more common in Europe. British Airways and Air France have banned smoking on domestic flights and some others. Scandinavian Airlines System was pressured to withdraw its smoking ban when smokers revolted.