Generally speaking, hotel and airline food is nothing to write home about.
But not AirAsia’s. In fact, for those who just can’t get enough of the airline’s food but don’t want to fly anywhere, the company has opened a fast-food restaurant that will exclusively serve in-flight meals.
Watch to find out more about the opening!
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Video credit: Rumble
Santan and T&CO is AirAsia’s in-flight menu brand and they both partnered to bring the world what is believed to be the first in-flight meal restaurant. The first branch opened in Kuala Lumpur at the Mid Valley Megamall.
“We have seen a significant appetite for our in-flight menu offerings beyond our flights across the region and this is our answer to that demand,” said Catherine Goh, general manager of Santan Restaurant and T&CO Cafe. “We are very proud to extend what started out as an in-flight menu into new markets.”
Consumer response was probably good enough that AirAsia even plans to quickly expand the restaurant chain.
“By the end of 2020, we aim to have five owned Santan restaurants and 100 franchise-operated restaurants and cafes within the next three to five years with expansions in global markets,” said Goh.
What’s even better is that the meals are affordably priced. Pineapple fish noodles from Cambodia, chicken inasal with garlic rice from the Philippines, and Malaysian dishes such as the nasi lemak quinoa wrap and onde-onde cake are all available for just 12 Malaysian Ringgits (roughly $2.88).
Santan’s website states: “What started as ‘AirAsia Cafe,’ simply serving sandwiches and snacks in the sky, Santan was born in 2015 with the vision to create a unique dining experience in the sky. “Today, many of our meals have become household names in Malaysia and beyond… In 2019, our wildest dreams are finally coming true and we’re so happy to have a home right in the heart of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.”
While customers will be able to enjoy in-flight meals while firmly on the ground, the establishment will still offer customers “a personal digital journey.”
Goh said, “The restaurant and cafe features a smart menu equipped with Artificial Intelligence and machine learning, which is able to recommend popular dishes based on time, past ordering patterns as well as demographic taste.”
It remains to be seen whether a large enough number of people would become fans of eating airline food on the ground when there are other food options available.
Tony Fernandes, CEO, and co-founder of AirAsia mentioned that he ultimately wants to open a branch in New York’s Times Square.
“When I was 5 years old, I had two dreams… a vision of having an airline and a fast-food restaurant. I have an airline. Now finally a restaurant,” Fernandes wrote through his LinkedIn page. “People laughed at us when we only had 2 planes. Hey, whatever. It’s a worldwide first. The first airline to open a quick-service restaurant based on airline food.”
Replaced!