Smintair

Smintair, or Smoker's International Airways, is a luxury airline that is scheduled to begin flying between Düsseldorf, Germany and Tokyo, Japan in 2008.

History

Smintair is founded by German financier Alexander Schoppmann. Schoppman told the International Herald Tribune he claims he has obtained approximately 300 million euros in financing for the airline from private investors in Europe and the Middle East. Smintair flights, if it ever gets off the ground, allegedly will have two classes of service, business and first class.

moking

The airline will allow passengers to smoke in flight and will be marketed to business travelers who prefer not to forgo cigarettes or cigars during the 12-hour flight between Europe and Japan. Two attempts in the United States to launch airlines that allowed passengers to smoke in flight have failed. The Great American Smokers' Club, a members-only charter airline that intended to fly smokers between the Texas cities of Dallas and Houston, signed up more than 6,000 members but failed to get a license from the Federal Aviation Administration. Florida-based Smokers Express failed to obtain enough financing to get off the ground.

Links

* [http://smintair.com Smintair official site]

References

* Clark, Nicola. (2006, September 5). "Smoke if You've Got 'Em On This Airline Next Year". The New York Times, p. C6.