Murdo Morrison: March 2006 Archives

And judging by the number packing one of Ryanair's 737s from Stansted to Rzezsow in the south-east of Poland last week, Michael O'Leary is also playing his part in powering the engine of the UK's buoyant service sector, that relies on hundreds of thousands of well-educated, English-speaking, hard-working and impeccably-mannered central and east Europeans to wait our tables, build our office blocks, plumb our bathrooms and au pair our kids.

Without being unkind, Rzezsow is not going to have tourists flocking to an until-now hidden central European treasure. An hour from the Ukrainian border and the rugged Carpathian mountains, it's a pleasant enough place, with a old town square and cobbled streets surrounded by the usual drab Warsaw Pact-era tower blocks and industrial areas, although I admit that in the midst of a miserable late Polish winter, you probably don't see it at its best. And, although the town is the centre of Poland's thriving "Aviation Valley" - a cluster of western-owned manufacturing facilities and locally-run SMEs - there are no direct business flights and I was one of only a few "suits" on the aircraft.

The Ryanair flight is essentially a bus service for young ex-pats from a remote and impoverished corner of the country, who - thanks to O'Leary's rock-bottom prices - can commute to find work in a relatively rich country crying out for plumbers, bar staff and bricklayers. There are some one million Poles currently working in London and Ireland.

But, unlike Poles of previous generations, who left for North America in their millions in the 20th century rarely if ever to return to their homeland, these 21st century emigres can afford to fly back for a plate of mum's borsch every few weeks.

For the locals, the Ryanair flight - the only direct international connection from Rzezsow, although more are planned - is a lifeline. Ryanair offers several such routes throughout Europe. The airline may be a bete noire to UK travellers, who (while lapping up the low prices) moan about long airport queues, the free seating scramble, the restrictions on luggage and the non-negotiable 45-min minimum check in. But for Poland's army of ex-pats, Ryanair provides a route to a better standard of living.

I'll be writing about Poland's Aviation Valley and its place in the global aerospace industry in the 9 May issue of Flight International.

The chief executive of Qatar Airways is not a man used to anything less than perfection from his suppliers. He has just unveiled - in a swirl of dry ice and to the booming accompaniment of the 2001: a Space Odyssey theme - a mock-up of the airline's first class lounge cabin, a separate six-seat bar area that will slot between first class proper and business class on its four new A340-600s, and eventually on all its long haul fleet.

It's an innovation that Al Baker believes will give Qatar an additional edge in the battle for high-spending passengers on its Middle Eastern routes. He thinks it will take rivals such as Emirates, Etihad and the big European carriers two years to come up with something similar, by which time, he says, Qatar will have moved onto the next big idea.

With every detail worked out meticulously, the feel is more like a corporate jet than first class cabin. With carriers such as Qatar delicately balancing the cultural requirements of both high net worth traditional Arab customers and the new breed of Western business exectutives flying in and out of Doha, Dubai and the region's other booming cities, getting the first class cabin environment right is vital. Do you emphasise privacy over social areas? Middle Eastern design cues over a more American boardroom feel? Glitz and gizmos or modernist understatement?

Which brings us back to the wobbly stand. Minor earth tremors are not a common occurance in the Germany and Al Baker demands to see the German stand contractor. "The chief" wants answers. You get the feeling that "Wobble, what wobble?" or "It's just a function of the stand design" just aren't going to wash as excuses.

I wasn't around to find out what happened, but I suspect there may be a discrepancy between what the contractor expected to be paid and the amount on the cheque signed by Al Baker.

Meanwhile, the Middle Eastern section of the show - where Qatar, Emirates and others were situated - put me in mind of a wonky map of a surreal parallel universe Middle East...where Palestine nestles happily next to Israel, which in turn happily near-neighbours Syria, Lebanon and Iran. It's a Middle East of smiling children in traditional dress, ancient temples and forts, luxury resorts and big friendly welcomes, where the main rivalry is over who has the best beaches. There wasn't an Iraq stand, but, if there had been, I would have no doubt been urged to sample the delights of "bustling Baghdad".