The Reason One Airline Is Now Selling Plates And Glasses

As of November 23, you could fill your crockery and china used by British Airways on whatabuy.co.uk. The Guardian reported that since COVID has halted almost all airline traffic, British Airways (BA) now has too much in-flight crockery after originally ordering a number that took into account breakages associated with the bumps of normal air travel.

Offerings currently include items from BA's First class and Club World experiences, such as a set of four bread baskets, a set of six china casserole dishes, and a set of three William Edwards soup bowls among others. You can even buy champagne flutes and insulated boxes that the Boeing 747s used to use.

Rob Burgess, editor of Headforpoints.com, explained to The Guardian that, "This is not the first time that BA has sold off excess stock ... but this offers the airline the chance to raise some additional funds given so few people are flying right now." This follows the airline's art auction in July, which saw them raise £2.2 million pounds. 

So far, the sale has actually proven to be quite popular, as Forbes discovered when it talked with Arvinder Singh Garcha. "We have our very own personal history with BA's Boeing 747s. With family in all four corners of the world, we used to travel often," he said. "So our family will miss the 'queen of the skies' hence why I purchased what I can from the British Airways sale." If you too want to fill your home with BA's presence, buy now.

British Airways, in fact, is not even the first airline to sell its first class experience to a homebound customer base. In September, CNN covered Qantas' flogging of fully-stocked bar carts that used to frolic on its own Boeing 747s. The proceeds were said to have went to the Royal Institute of Deaf and Blind Children. In a statement issued by Qantas, Phil Capps, the Qantas executive manager of product and service, explained that the airline wanted to offer the unique opportunity to offer pieces of the 747 to customers at a time when air travel was out of their reach. 

Both BA and Qantas's Boeing 747, the 'Queen of the Skies', were retired early due to COVID.

Presumably, many other companies feel this way as the airline industry has suffered considerably during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to a report compiled by Statista in October, before the pandemic, the industry projected revenues of $581 billion globally. Now, they calculate a revenue loss of $314 billion. 

However, even as the pandemic threatens to burst to new heights, some airline companies are expecting a holiday surge in traffic. Robin Hayes, CEO of JetBlue, told USA Today, "We have seen signs of pent-up demand from customers who want to visit their family and friends or go on vacation." If so, they'll see a small bump in their fortune and then another flatline as the pandemic spreads further.

Instead, remind yourself of travel by stocking up on designer British Airways goods.