Airplane Cafes Are on the Rise in Thailand Amid Pandemic Travel Restrictions

Some people miss traveling so much they just want to be on a plane

airplane dining
Ah yes, because THIS is what we miss most about traveling.
Alexander Spatari/Getty Images

Miss traveling? Can’t help you there. But maybe you’d like to simply drink coffee on board an airplane without actually going anywhere instead?

That seems to be the idea behind Coffee War, a Thai cafe serving customers on board a retired Airbus A330 commercial plane. In an attempt to help would-be travelers fill the void left by pandemic travel restrictions, the plane cafe seeks to recreate the magic of travel by removing the best part (actually getting to go to a new place) and keeping the worst: sitting on plane and consuming terrible beverages.

Apparently, however, we have now reached a stage of coronavirus in which this is actually an attractive option.

“Sitting right here in the first-class section … really gives me the feeling of actually being on a plane, cruising through the air,” one customer told Mashable.

To be fair, the food Coffee War and Thai Airways Cafe, a restaurant modeled after a plane in Bangkok, are serving appears to be a cut above your typical subpar flight fare. But don’t worry, to ensure an authentic airplane dining experience, Thai Airways Cafe is ditching proper plates and silverware in favor of plastic trays. This, according to Mashable, is “great if you really miss the air travel experience.”

Again, I could be alone in this, but I would hazard that sitting on a plane and dining out of plastic is probably not what most people miss the most about traveling. But I suppose that just goes to show you how dramatically our standards for joy have declined this year. Months into a global pandemic, people miss their old lives so much they’re actually willing to pay money just to sit on an airplane and eat food, which is pretty bleak.

Anyway, the joys of travel may still be largely out of reach, but at least you can sit on a plane, sip a cup of coffee, dine out of a plastic container, and dream of traveling far away, preferably into a different timeline.

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