Is this the END of suitcases? Airline RENTS clothes to passengers so they don’t have to pack luggage, reducing greenhouse gas emissions
- Clothing packs cost between £22 and £38 and can be dressy, casual or mixed.
Lugging a heavy suitcase on vacation could become a thing of the past if an airline’s clothing rental experiment turns out to be a good fit for customers.
The service, dubbed “Any Wear, Anywhere,” will allow people to rent a clothing package before their flight, which will then be delivered directly to their hotel or AirBnb upon arrival.
Japan Airlines launched the scheme yesterday in the hope that it will mean customers can leave bulky bags behind and make a “sustainable choice”.
Travelers can tailor their clothing style depending on whether they are traveling for business or pleasure, choosing from smart, smart-casual and mixed, and can choose from small, medium and large sizes.
A set of clothes will cost between 4,000 and 7,000 yen (22-38 pounds), and people will be able to rent up to eight different outfits for two weeks.
The service, dubbed ‘Any Wear, Anywhere’, will allow people to rent a clothing package before their flight, which will then be delivered directly to their hotel.
Japan Airlines launched the scheme yesterday in the hope that it will mean customers can leave bulky bags behind and make a “sustainable choice”.
The airline has launched the scheme in a bid to offer convenience to its customers, but also to promote sustainable tourism, and will collect data on whether it helps reduce baggage weight and carbon emissions.
JAL partner Sumitomo claims that by giving up 10kg of luggage, customers could reduce their carbon dioxide emissions by 7.5kg, which is roughly equivalent to not using a hair dryer for 78 days.
Profitable wardrobes will be sourced from surplus clothing products, JAL says, helping to minimize waste.
JAL will calculate the carbon emissions reduction based on the aircraft weight saved and will let its customers know.
The Sumitomo Trading House created the online reservation system for the clothing rental service and oversees the procurement, washing and delivery of the clothing.
Sumitomo commercial house created the online reservation system for the clothing rental service
The service is a one-year experiment and is available to customers between July 5 of this year and August 2024.
The tourism benefit comes after strict restrictions in the country were lifted during the pandemic.
Japan has seen a large increase in post-Covid visitors in recent months, with the number arriving in the country reaching 1.9 million.
That’s an increase of 1,191 percent compared to the same month last year, the FT reports.
However, visitors in May were still below pre-pandemic levels by about 30 percent, according to the Japan National Tourism Organization.
