Daily Podcast: Delta’s New Lie-Flat Seats

Today’s edition of Skift’s daily podcast explains why Mauritius tourism officials are targeting global nomads, how Delta aims to expand its transcontinental market share, and AirAsia’s subscription plan for in-flight services.

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Episode Notes

Mauritius has set an ambitious target of attracting 1 million foreign tourists by the end of 2022. But what markets are its tourism officials, who have long focused on luxury visitors, targeting in its attempt to reach the lofty goal? Asia Editor Peden Doma Bhutia writes Mauritius travel executives are setting their sights on digital nomads and retirees.

Tourism officials in the Indian Ocean nation have launched a premium visa scheme offering long-term visas to tap into those aforementioned segments. Arvind Bundhun, the director of the Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority, said the agency has seen an enormous demand among digital nomads and retirees for the premium visa. Roughly 3,000 people have applied for the visa, and 2,000 of them have already arrived in the country.

But Mauritius faces an uphill climb in hitting its goal of 1 million visitors for 2022. The country attracted a little more than 90,000 tourist arrivals during the first two months of the year, and citizens of China — a lucrative market for Mauritius — are still largely prohibited by their government from traveling overseas.

Next, the premium transcontinental market has been one of most lucrative and competitive in the U.S. in recent years, and Delta Air Lines is not ceding any ground in the competition. The carrier has announced plans to unveil lie-flat business class suites on transcontinental flights, writes Airlines Reporter Edward Russell.

Delta will configure 21 A321neos with 148 seats — 16 of them being Delta One lie-flat business class suites. It joins nearly every other major U.S. carrier in offering lie-flat business class seats on transcontinental flights. Delta has not yet provided a timeline for when the premium configuration will enter service.

The Atlanta-based airline is also building a new premium lounge at its JFK Airport hub. The Delta One Lounge, which is part of a $1.3 billion expansion of Terminal 4 at the airport, is scheduled to open by December 2023.

We end today with AirAsia. The carrier has unveiled a limited subscription plan for flights and food delivery to customers in four Southeast Asian countries, reports Executive Editor Dennis Schaal.

AirAsia is limiting its Super+ subscription plan to 200,000 subscribers who sign up by April 2. Consumers based in Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines who meet the deadline wouldn’t have to pay base fares on AirAsia flights from April 11, 2022 through April 10, 2023. They would also qualify for Covid flight insurance for flight cancellations if they tested positive three to seven prior to their scheduled flight departures.