Planes: more economical business class becomes a refuge against COVID-19

Business class was that quiet and spacious sanctuary for the wealthy, at least until the pandemic destroyed global aviation. But as the flights resume, this once exclusive paradise is overrun by the masses.

Filled with cash and a record number of air miles after a year on the ground, leisure travelers revel in premium seats for their first trips after having to stay home after the pandemic. It’s not just because of the food, champagne, and cosmetics that are included in the higher rates. They also try to minimize the risk of getting a covid.

The popularity of these lucrative seats, especially among passengers who typically travel economy class, is also an unexpected boon for struggling airlines which are expected to have incurred losses estimated at $ 174 billion by the end of 2021. As vaccines progress through the middle east, the UK and the US, tourists with cash to spend are becoming a new market for operators desperate to recoup their income to explore.

Jennifer Arnold, a retired New Yorker who is passionate about diving, will fly to the Maldives via Doha on Qatar Airways in May. Despite being vaccinated, Arnold said getting a business class seat was essential.

“It was strictly to be in an area with fewer people,” Arnold said., who used points for the outward journey and paid for his return flight. “I would not have taken this trip if I had had to travel economy class now that the virus continues to spread throughout much of the world.”

Seats exhausted

Fares are already well below their peak as airlines try to stimulate a recovery. Transatlantic Business Class tickets on Delta Air Lines Inc., British Airways and American Airlines Group Inc. at the end of May are just over $ 3,000. Those seats, especially for last-minute bookings, could cost as much as $ 9,000 before the covid, said Brian Kelly, founder of travel advice website The Points Guy.

On a flight to Miami from New York last month, Kelly found that first-class seats were sold out on all flights from all New York airports three weeks in advance. “I traveled from New York to Miami years ago and had never seen this,” he said.