New | Wine fortunes take off for labels featured on inflight menus
Getting on an airline wine list isn't easy, but winemakers who make the grade enjoy improved brand awareness and higher sales on the ground
Over the course of her 36-year career at Cathay Pacific Airways, Karen Koh would help welcome first and business-class passengers with champagne as they boarded. An inflight service manager for 23 of those years, she would also oversee the cabin crew at meal times as they poured a selection of wines - two reds, two whites and a champagne.
"If it's a full load in first or business, we use up two bottles in each class," says Koh, who retired from the airline in November.
And while the wine service on board the airline has largely stayed the same over the years, the faces have not.
"The passenger load has filled up with Chinese people," Koh says. "There were very few Chinese passengers 20 years ago, it's only the last five years or so. They weren't as affluent in the past or exposed to wine, but now of course they are very likely to drink on the plane. Even in economy, most of them will want to try a wine."
Taking into account that Hong Kong-based Cathay and its subsidiary Dragonair moved 29.9 million passengers last year, one way for foreign wine producers looking to gain exposure to Chinese drinkers is to aim sky high.
