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Tag: In-flight

  • Scoot Airline Employee Pilfers $31K from In-Flight Sales: A High-Flying Heist Unravelled

    Scoot Airline Employee Pilfers $31K from In-Flight Sales: A High-Flying Heist Unravelled

    A cabin crew member of Scoot, a low-cost airline based in Singapore, has been found guilty of misappropriating nearly SGD40,000 (approximately US$31,000) from the sales of food and beverages on the airline over the course of almost two years, as revealed by court documents.

    Criminal Breach of Trust

    Luqman Hakim Shahfawi, aged 31, had been serving as a complex leader, a high-ranking role within the cabin crew responsible for supervising inflight operations. Shahfawi admitted his guilt to one charge of criminal breach of trust, which pertained to over SGD22,000. The court is set to consider a second charge concerning the remaining sum of nearly SGD18,000 during the sentencing on February 3.

    Beginning of Misdeeds

    The court found that Shahfawi’s fraudulent actions commenced after he unintentionally lost two bags filled with cash from inflight food and beverage sales. Fearful of being found out by his superiors, he decided to retain the money when the initial loss went unnoticed.

    As a complex leader, Shahfawi was tasked with reconciling the items sold with the sales proceeds and logging this information into Scoot’s system at the conclusion of each flight. He was also responsible for delivering the cash bag to Scoot’s office and depositing it in a safe within 48 hours.

    Escalation of Fraud

    When Shahfawi lost two cash bags in 2023, he failed to report the losses to his superiors. He subsequently decided to keep the bags and the cash they contained, after all his flights, out of fear that his superiors would discover he lost the initial two bags.

    From July 2023 to March 2025, Shahfawi committed a total of 366 offenses. Investigation revealed that he utilized the stolen funds to repay debts he owed to unlicensed moneylenders. He confessed his actions to the company and was arrested in March 2025.

    Questions & Answers

    What was the role of the accused?
    Luqman Hakim Shahfawi served as a complex leader with Scoot, a role that involves supervising inflight operations.

    What led to Shahfawi’s fraudulent actions?
    Shahfawi’s fraudulent actions began after he misplaced two bags of cash from inflight sales and kept the money when the loss went unnoticed.

    What happened after his misdeeds were discovered?
    Shahfawi confessed to the company and was subsequently arrested in March 2025.

  • Vietnam Airlines Teams Up with Pizza 4P’s: Savour In-Flight Meals like Never Before!

    Vietnam Airlines Teams Up with Pizza 4P’s: Savour In-Flight Meals like Never Before!

    Vietnam Airlines has recently introduced a new feature, offering meals sourced from the immensely popular Pizza 4P’s restaurant chain. The airline commenced the sale of these meals on Monday, on select domestic flights lasting 60 minutes or more and international flights that are a minimum of 90 minutes departing from Hanoi and HCMC, according to an official statement.

    Menu and Pricing

    Among the meal options available are Margherita and 4 cheeses, priced at VND119,000 dong (US$4.51) for half a standard pizza. However, potential customers are required to place their orders a minimum of 24 hours in advance, either via the airline’s official website or mobile app.

    Other airlines in Vietnam like Vietjet, Bamboo Airways, and Vietravel Airlines have already ventured into the sale of food and souvenirs on board their flights. In 2022, Vietnam Airlines also began selling milk tea on board, with prices set at VND49,000 per cup on domestic routes and VND100,000 on international flights.

    Shift Towards Personalized Offerings

    The initiative is part of Vietnam Airlines’ strategic shift towards offering more personalized, co-branded products that cater to the evolving needs of younger travelers, families, and international passengers.

    Pizza 4P’s, established in 2011 by Japanese duo Yosuke Masuko and Sanae Takasugi, is renowned for its pizza. Despite pizza being the main dish on its menu, the brand positions itself as a restaurant chain instead of a fast-food outlet. It now boasts 40 restaurants, with 35 locations in Vietnam and additional branches in Cambodia, Indonesia, Japan, and India.

    Questions & Answers

    What are the new meal options available on Vietnam Airlines?
    Vietnam Airlines has introduced meals from the popular Pizza 4P’s restaurant chain, including Margherita and 4 cheeses options.

    How can customers purchase these meals on Vietnam Airlines?
    Customers are required to place their orders a minimum of 24 hours in advance, either through the official website or mobile app of Vietnam Airlines.

    What is the goal of Vietnam Airlines in introducing these new meal options?
    Introducing meals from Pizza 4P’s is part of Vietnam Airlines’ strategic shift towards offering more personalized, co-branded products to cater to the evolving needs of younger travelers, families, and international passengers.

  • Davao chocolate boards AirAsia’s in-flight meals

    Davao chocolate boards AirAsia’s in-flight meals

    Davao City’s renowned chocolate brand will give flavor to a new AirAsia Philippines in-flight meal – an addition to the carrier’s Asian menu.

    On Thursday, April 5, AirAsia Philippines revealed its roasted dalandan chicken with pimiento sauce. While considered a main course, one of the meal’s ingredients is chocolate produced by Malagos Agri-Ventures Corporation.

    “This will put us into the spotlight, and hopefully more and more potential partners would be looking at us,” said Rex Victor Puentespina, sales and marketing head of the firm behind the Malagos Chocolate brand.

    AirAsia Philippines, which tapped Bacolod master chef JP Anglo for the concept, will carry the meal in all of its domestic and international flights beginning April 12.

    Dexter Comendador, the carrier’s chief executive officer, said they added the meal to their in-flight Santan menu to bring in social entrepreneurs “who all value a strong, innovative service culture.”

    The Puentespina family’s firm was recognized in Paris last year for its cacao beans. While the samples they sent to the International Cocoa Awards did not make it to the top 18, it was still a feat for the family who ventured into cacao farming more than a decade ago.

    It also recently hammered a deal with Krispy Kreme for a doughnut product in the region.

    The carrier also announced on Thursday its move to sell handwoven products made by social entrepreneurs from Manila, Davao, and Cebu “on all AirAsia flights across 180 destinations.”

    These include handwoven items by ANTHILL, which sources its items from direct partners in indigenous communities in the Philippines.

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  • 60% of APAC travelers would pay for in-flight Wi-Fi

    60% of APAC travelers would pay for in-flight Wi-Fi

    Over 60% of APAC respondents would be prepared to pay up to $5 to access the internet on planes, according to YouGov’s latest survey on air travel.

    Although only 10% of APAC respondents say lack of connectivity is one of the three worst aspects of flying, many airlines are introducing internet access on flights so passengers can stay connected throughout the air journey.

    Almost one in five APAC respondents have tried in-flight internet access in the past and would like to do again in the future. And almost half of the APAC respondents haven’t tried in-flight internet access before but would consider doing so in the future.

    This should be a good news to airlines as this advancement on planes seem to be very well receiving in APAC. However, budget is also a concern as the majority of APAC respondents (64%) would only prepare to pay up to US$5 to access in-flight internet services, while less than 30% are prepared to pay up to $10.

    To further improve connectivity on flight, some airlines are also proposing new service like making VoIP calls on flight. Over 40% of APAC respondents express interest in making in-flight VoIP calls in the future.

    However, 65% of APAC respondents also think it is irritating to sit next to someone making a VoIP call on a flight. Because of this, almost 80% of APAC respondents think airlines should give passengers the option of sitting in different sections on planes where calls are and aren’t allowed.

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  • Asian Airlines May Be Forced To Cut Free In-flight Booze

    Asian Airlines May Be Forced To Cut Free In-flight Booze

    An OPEC deal has put the squeeze on airlines’ already slim profit margins. Rising fuel prices stemming from last week’s OPEC production cuts could heap pressure on Asia’s already overburdened aviation sector and force its biggest carriers to nix the giveaways that have long been integral to their service.

    And the first ballast to be cast off might be free alcohol and in-flight entertainment, which has been standard on most of the continent’s long-haul carriers for decades.

    Asia’s marquee airlines such as Cathay Pacific and Singapore Airlines  have so far resisted the U.S. low cost model wherein carriers charge for services ranging from inflight meals to alcohol to baggage check-in.

    But this might be about to change.

    “More full-service airlines in Asia Pacific might consider doing the same,” Mathieu De Marchi, a Bangkok-based aviation consultant at Landrum & Brown told Bloomberg, referencing carriers such as Delta Air Lines that have successfully consolidated their service offering.

    Fierce competition has pushed Asian carriers’ profit margins down to about half that of their U.S. counterparts and they are already struggling against excess capacity and a fall in premium traffic.

    The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) finalized a deal to cut oil output on Nov. 30. The bid to kick some life into dreary oil prices seems to have paid off—at least in the short term. But that’s bad news for aviation sector, whose long haulers guzzle the black stuff.

    Dispensing with free services is not the only option available for airlines feeling the pinch. They could opt to raise prices, or for more environmentally progressive measures such as taking inefficient planes out of service and cutting unprofitable routes.

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  • In-flight connectivity wants to be free

    In-flight connectivity wants to be free

    In-flight connectivity (IFC) is in high demand from consumers, but depending on where you are in the value chain, it won’t be easy to monetize that demand, especially when many passengers expect it to be free.

    “Right now the satellite operators are the ones making the profit on in-flight connectivity,” says Todd Hill, senior director of GCS Satellite Services at Panasonic.

    Part of the problem has to do with the cost of aircraft antennas, which are hard to install, “although the technology is improving.” Hill says.

    The other issue is the cost of the actually connectivity itself. While HTS satellites and Ka-band are touted for their ability to bring the cost per megabit down, the problem is that Ka-band isn’t an all-purpose solution that will be available everywhere.

    “We’re building a global network, so one size is not going to fit all,” Hill says. “Ka-band doesn’t fit every need. HTS can bring the cost down, but you also get these spikes in supply whenever a new gigabit satellite goes up that affects pricing.”

    Erwin Hudson, VP/GM at ViaSat, says that everyone in the IFC value chain – satellite players, the service providers and the airlines – can make money, but that for the airlines, it’s as much about value creation as literally earning money from in-flight broadband. “For example, enhancing customer satisfaction – there’s great value there for the airlines.”

    Which is as well, because if airlines have learned anything about IFC, it’s that customers generally aren’t willing to pay for it, especially as they become accustomed to Wi-Fi as a complimentary service in hotels, airports and coffee shops.

    “Customers do expect this for free, which is to say they expect it to be included in the ticket price, and that’s the way we’d rather see it go,” Hudson says. “There are different business models out there, such as pay-as-you-go, freemium or free, and we’ll see all three in play. But when you charge money for it, your take-up rate is around 10% to 15%, whereas when it’s free the take-up rate is as high as 100% or even 105%, because we count devices, not people, and many people have more than one device. So we think free is where it’s ultimately going to go.”

    Hudson adds that IFC is a segmented market – commercial airlines, private jets, military/government, etc – with different requirements and business models for each, “so there’s a substantial opportunity there.”

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