Business Traveller Asia - 07.2019 - 08.2019

businesstraveller.com

UPFRONT

14

A I R

MILES

How many flights do you typically take

per year?

Ten to 12 flights a year. I mostly f ly to Korea,

Shanghai, New Zealand, India and Europe. The

last four are nearly always coffee-related trips!

Most unusual place you have been?

The most unusual place I’ve been is a place just

outside of Trivandrum, India called Neyyar

Dam. I visited a teacher of Sivananda yoga.

We travelled over a crocodile-infested river,

alongside a lion safari and ended at a small but

beautiful lake. I dove off of rocks and lay by the

lakeside. It was one of the most peaceful places

I’ve ever experienced.

Any flights in your life that particularly

stand out?

The f lights that stand out to me are the ones I

took in the late 1960s. It was quite a privilege

to travel back then. The coca-cola back then

tasted incredible (I was five-ish!) and it seemed an

incredible treat to enjoy at altitude. I experienced

some pretty scary landings back then too.

How do you survive a long flight?

Whisky and lots of films. I’m a proud action-

movie fan when it comes to flying.

Top travel tips?

Travel super light. If I can, I’ll travel only with

a briefcase.

How could airlines improve in-flight

service?

Treating everyone equally no matter what cabin

class, and by serving good espresso!

Loveliest souvenir you’ve ever come

back with?

On my first coffee-sourcing trip to meet the

founder of the Speciality Coffee Association

of Europe, I picked up a couple of silk scarves

to combat the cold. I still have them 20 years

later. I always try and bring home the best bag

of espresso beans I can find but it’s harder and

harder to find anything extra special these days.

Truthfully, I’ve never found a bag better than ours.

Indispensable travel gadgets?

My Bang & Olufsen P2 wireless speakers

and my Bang & Olufsen E8 2.0 wireless

headphones are always with me. Having the

music I like accessible to me adds soul to my

travels. Otherwise it’s just busy streets and sterile

hotel rooms.

Ultimate dream destination?

Greenland, without my phone.

Unusual equipment you fly with?

My lightweight cashmere travel blanket – which

can double as a scarf – is invaluable to me. I can’t

handle airline blankets which have been used by

so many people.

JULY/AUGUST 2019

SANJAY PONNAPA is the

founder of Fuel Espresso,

a New Zealand-based

coffee shop chain with

outlets in Hong Kong and

mainland China

VIETNAM AIRLINES has rolled out a new “Meet and

Greet” service at three airports in Vietnam that allows

passengers to receive departure, arrival and transit

assistance for a fee.

These new services are available at Hanoi’s Noi Bai

International Airport, Ho Chi Minh City’s Tan Son Nhat

International Airport and Da Nang International Airport.

For departures, the new services include assistance

with check-in, priority baggage drop-off, security

and immigration handling, and escorting to the gate.

Transiting passengers can also receive assistance,

meeting an agent at the airbridge or terminal gate and

VIETNAM AIRLINES

OFFERS AIRPORT

‘MEET AND GREET’

SERVICES

being escorted through transit procedures and to the gate

for their connecting flight.

Arriving passengers, meanwhile, can get assistance

with passport control, and baggage and customs, as well

as being escorted to the airport exit. Agents will also

meet passengers at their respective airbridge or gate.

vietnamairlines.com