Do you agree that there are only two emotions one feels on an aircraft: sheer boredom alternating with absolute terror? If, like me, you believe that the three most beautiful words in the English language are "Disarm all doors", then you will undoubtedly welcome the idea of a bar in the domestic sky. Ever experienced the sheer nail-biting terror of trying to land at Mumbai airport in a blinding mid-monsoon thunderstorm?

Imagine if you could alter the scenario a bit. Think of your charming air hostess plying you with your sixth tequila shot, thinks vintage Donna Summer on the sound system, shiny disco balls dropping down instead of oxygen masks, and viola, turbulence is equal to fun.

You could choose your airline according to its bar code. Indian or Indian Airlines could start their version of the Aunty's Bar. God knows they have the air-hostesses to match a concept so popular in the days of Prohibition.

Air Deccan could start a 24/7 happy hour. And with Kingfisher, flyers could pretend they were not actually over Bhubaneshwar, but in an Atul Kasbekar calendar far, far away, being served by beauties in Swarovski encrusted cummerbunds, perched on bar stools in Bora Bora, and not seat 29D in Economy.

It might even tempt A D Singh to start OliveAir, complete with white washed interiors, sardine tapas, pebbles on the aisles, a resident DJ and Ladies Night every Thursday. All this loveliness comes at a cost too. Think Kishen Mulchandani, sashaying down the aisle, champagne glass in hand, blowing air kisses to his nearest and dearest.

Think also of airline magazines giving up our favourite articles on 'The joy of Kathakali' and 'The monastaries of Tibet' for page three parties in the sky. Then there is the red-wine-with-meat, white-wine-with-fish dilemma, as in what wine goes with breakfast akuri, spicy upma and the grilled tomato which nobody eats, on the side.

And what about drinking in the lavatories, is that permitted, or will the fumes from your beautifully aged Single Malt set of the alarm bells? Will corkscrews prove to be security hazards? And should you actually drink up all those lovely little miniature bottles of liquor or preserve them for posterity in the drawing room showcase?

Only one thing could be a bit of a problem as you settle into your window seat admiring the mint leaves and cold sweat on your Caprioshka. It's the pilot on the PA System announcing. "Thish ish your Captain shpeaking...."

The Indian aviation industry is all set to take off. And most of the growth in the domestic sector at least, will be centred around no-frill airlines in the future. When the 'Open Skies' policy was started in '90s, the whole emphasis of private airlines like Damania, East West Airlines and Jet Airways, was on providing world-class services.

Till then, domestic passengers were only used to the in-flight experience of state-owned carriers. But private airlines went all out to serve exotic meals, goody bags, gifts for kids and liquor. In fact, some even opened a bar on board. But that was then.

Things are different now. Low-cost carriers are ruling the sky as opposed to full service ones. The demography of travellers, too, has undergone a change. Earlier, air travel was largely corporate driven and companies footed the bill of their employees.

Today, the growth is coming from individual travellers on the lookout for good deals. Even corporations are cutting costs and encouraging frequent travelling employees to opt for low-frill airlines.

Mindsets too have changed and so have passenger expectations. They want low fares and on-time flights. Given this situation, liquor doesn't come into the picture at all.



The business model of low- cost airlines revolves around providing cheap fares. The rest of the services are based on a pay-on-use model. By this definition, passengers will have to pay for the liquor served on board.

One reason why the government banned serving liquor on domestic flights in the late '90s was because of frequent incidents of abuse by drunken travellers. Then there were instances of hostesses serving rum and cola instead of tea and coffee on morning flights. This hurt passenger sensibilities.

In any case, the duration of most domestic flights doesn't exceed three hours and it does not make sense to serve hard liquor for such short travel. In fact, there is a sea change in attitude of some international airlines. Many of them are asking economy class passengers to pay for the liquor that they consume.

The Indian aviation sector is facing bigger hurdles today. Our fuel surcharge and airport usage charges are among the highest in the world.

Despite such high costs, no-frill carriers are offering great deals. With competition gearing up, carriers need to focus on the fundamentals of their business to provide low fares over a long period of time. This means they have to find ways and means of being more cost effective.