Flying used to be the method of transport most associated with ease, comfort, luxury and great pleasure. The expense used to be the major downside. Nowadays, the costs are minimal and the luxury element has almost disappeared. However, the tide is changing again and airline passengers can look forward to happier days.
Whilst the vast majority of airline passengers and the airlines themselves have been complaining about the chaos surrounding air travel, the industry has recently hit back with new claims that flying has never been so pleasant in modern times. Whereas the recession has proven to be a huge hindrance, especially in terms of fuel prices, it has been found out that every cloud has a silver lining, or indeed many such linings.
The smaller numbers of passengers have led to airports becoming less crowded, making them look more like the times of the airlines’ golden era. The recession has also led to airlines cutting down on expenses, which usually means that they stop giving out hot meals on board and passengers are lucky to receive a sandwich. However, most people have become used to this and new offers such as Wifi have more than made up for the lack of dry chicken on board. Surveys show that passengers generally prefer to have Internet access than to eat better. Some airports are even so well equipped with fast food outlets that the food is beginning to become utterly irrelevant.
There are other services, which are designed to speed up the whole experience for the passenger and make flying a little more enjoyable. These are relatively new. For example, the queues at the check-in desks have been almost eradicated and the process has become a lot simpler, especially where no bags are involved. On a similar note, the sms boarding passes are perfect for saving hassle as are the self-boarding facilities, which have only recently been introduced.
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Let\'s hope the cost of flying goes up to meet all the real costs (climate change, noise, congestion)not at present charged to fliers, so that other less damaging travel modes such as rail are adopted. Instead of wasteful trips of 100\'s or 1000\'s of miles for a few days will become an aberation, and we can return to the \"trip of a lifetime\" enjoyed by our parents.