Airline Lets Passengers Buy Child Tickets, Snacks For “Supernatural” Dolls

Do you feel compelled to travel with a supposedly supernatural-powered doll that not only gets its own seat, but a meal it can’t possibly eat? Then one airline is ready to cater to your very specific needs.

Bloomberg reports that Thai Smile Airways has told staffers that the airline will now sell individual seats for passengers carrying dolls known as Look Thep, or Child Angels, which have recently grown in popularity in the region after some celebrities touted the dolls’ alleged supernatural benefits.

For the price of a child’s ticket, the life-size doll gets its own seat, along with food and drinks. Cabin crew has been told they can treat the dolls as real children because they have undergone a “spiritualization” process.

Just like a living, breathing passenger, the dolls must be safely buckled into their seats during takeoff and landing. They are also not allows in exit rows.

The airline’s CEO tells the Bangkok Post that this is about balancing the desires of passengers who carry these dolls with the safety of everyone else on the plane. He explains that cabin crew had been putting the dolls in the overhead bins, but that upset some passengers, who then insisted on putting the dolls on their laps. That could be a potential safety hazard.

Passengers who bring their dolls on board but don’t want to buy a seat must count the doll as a piece of carry-on luggage.

by Chris Morran via Consumerist