Japan Airlines has kicked off a year-long test period of a service that allows tourists to travel without luggage. Thus, they can reserve a set of clothes – covering different clothing styles and seasons – and receive it at the hotel upon arrival. At the end of the stay, the clothes are returned to be washed and reintroduced into the system,
Called with a wordplay “Any Wear, Anywhere“, the service runs until the end of August 2024, and Japan Airlines says it could reduce carbon emissions by reducing the weight carried by its planes.
The “Any Wear, Anywhere” program estimates that 10 kilograms saved in luggage equals 7.5 kilograms less emissions – the equivalent of running a hair dryer, 10 minutes a day, for 78 days. “I love to travel and have been to many foreign countries, but I’ve always found it inconvenient to drag luggage or do laundry abroad,” says Miho Moriya, who came up with the idea and manages Any Wear, Anywhere for Sumitomo , the Japanese company that deals with reservations, deliveries and washing clothes.
“When I travel, the three most important things for me are accommodation, food and clothing,” she adds. “When we travel abroad, there are hotels and restaurants that offer accommodation and food on site, but not clothing. Why do we need to bring our clothes from home?” – she argues.
Miho Moriya came up with the idea for the service through an internal entrepreneurial challenge within her company and says that once it was approved, after a delay due to the pandemic, it took “many tries” to find an airline that would be willing to support it.
Users of the service connect to the website and choose from several options – women’s or men’s clothing; what season are they for; elegant or casual style; the number of blouses and trousers; and pick-up and return dates.
The selections will be waiting for them at the hotel, at prices that vary between 34 and 48 dollars for the entire rental period. All clothing items are either second-hand or from the company’s surplus stock, although users cannot see this information about their selection.
The service has been running since early July, and Moriya says the response has been overwhelmingly positive. “We have requests from all over the world and from over 115 countries in total, even though we don’t do any kind of promotion,” she says, adding that the United States and Australia are the countries where most users come from.
The true impact of the test will only be revealed at the end, after Japan Airlines has accounted for the weight savings and calculated the exact reduction in emissions. “We need to see the final results before we can say whether this service is sustainable or not,” says Moriya, adding that the calculations will take into account the emissions produced by the delivery of the clothes and their washing.
Reducing weight is a proven way to save fuel and reduce emissions, and aircraft manufacturers and airlines have long considered it, for example by designing lighter passenger seats or replacing heavy paper magazines with tablets.