Do sexy flight attendants really sell more seats?

Images of bikini-clad women in Thailand posing suggestively in an online ad for a local airline inflamed passions -- both positive and negative -- earlier this year.
Domestic low-cost carrier Nok Air stood at the center of the frenzy. The airline had employed the provocatively clothed women to attract more attention in a Facebook publicity move.
It worked.

"I kind of expected it to be fairly controversial, but at the end of the day more people ended up liking it than hating it," says Patee Sarasin, Nok Air's chief executive officer.Thailand-based low-cost carrier Nok Air\'s controversial calendar. Thailand-based low-cost carrier Nok Air's controversial calendar.
"When it debuted on Facebook, we had over 200,000 likes. I'm happy."

The campaign proved to be a social media success -- it also brought into focus the different ways international airlines use the attractiveness of cabin crews to brand and market their product.
Though acknowledging that "beautiful does not equate to being a good flight attendant," Ji Yang Xiong, director of China's Foreign Airlines Service Corporation, notes a difference in aesthetics when comparing airlines from the East and West.

"Maybe Asian airlines emphasize looks just a bit more when compared to European or Middle Eastern airlines," says Xiong. "European airlines don't have any requirement on looks. They mostly focus on personality and having the right attitude for the job and a service-oriented mindset."

source :
CNN