In business class only water and juice: where it can happen and why (Islam has nothing to do with it)
You are sitting in business class, waiting for your intercontinental flight to depart. The flight attendant passes by with the tray [...]
You are sitting in business class, waiting for your intercontinental flight to depart. The flight attendant walks by with the tray for the customary welcome drink and...horror: she offers you only water or juice.
In this article:
No, you did not end up unknowingly on a 'dry' airline, one of the airlines that do not serve alcohol on board for religious reasons (as Saudia, Kuwait Airways or Royal Brunei Airlines). You are on a 'normal' airline departing from the United States to a long-haul destination. You ask the flight attendant if she can bring you some champagne or, at least, white wine. But it tells you that 'by company regulation' it can only serve you alcohol when the plane is in the air, and not on the ground.
The reason for this apparent oddity lies in the fact that companies pay taxes on alcohol That they serve when their planes are not in the air. That is, when they are on the ground. Airlines of 'a certain level' pay that little bit of tax (compared to the mountain of euros, dollars or other currencies they charge for a seat in Business or First Class) and keep their passengers happy, indulging their legitimate expectations. Others (one of them being Lot Polish Airlines), choose not to pay those fees and keep their premium passengers on water and juice until their plane has taken off. Once in the air, in fact, there is no fee to pay.
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Emirates, of course, is among the airlines that serve alcohol to their Business and First Class passengers before takeoff. But, sometimes, passengers traveling in First Class, instead of being served the usual Dom Perignon, are served the champagne that is normally offered to Business Class passengers, which is Veuve Clicquot or Moet. This is because the taxation on Dom Perignon is higher than that on the other two labels. Once in the air, First passengers can have as much Dom Perignon as they want.
The United States is not the only country where alcohol may not be served on board before takeoff. In fact, there are Muslim countries, those most intransigent on the prohibition of alcoholic beverages, that prohibit by law airlines from serving wine or hard liquor to their passengers while their aircraft is on the ground.
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It happens, for example, in Iran or Brunei. But also in a country that lives on tourism like the Maldives and where all kinds of alcoholic beverages are freely consumed in the resorts. Which, however, is prohibited outside the resorts. And so also in the capital city of Malé. So when you return from a week in paradise, don't be surprised if, while sitting in Business Class, you are offered only water and juice before takeoff.
