KLM now serves Heineken draught beer on board planes

Heineken has long claimed to "refresh the parts other beers cannot reach" – and now it has taken that mantra one step further by becoming the first brewery to offer draught beer at 35,000 feet.

The Dutch company has partnered with KLM to offer the so-called "mile high pub", which is set to be trialled on intercontinental services in August.

Heineken and KLM claim to have spent years developing a beer keg and dispenser that works at high altitude.

"Because the air pressure is so much lower in an airplane than at sea level, a traditional beer tap will not work as it will only dispense a huge amount of foam," said Heineken's Edwin Griffioen.

"We do have dispensers that work on air pressure, but these were too big to fit in a plane. It was one big jigsaw puzzle."

That jigsaw puzzle isn't exactly complete: the cooling system that makes most pints icy cold had to be left behind because it was too big to fit inside the trolleys.

"In the end we had to leave out one of those pieces to make it all fit," said Griffioen. "So with pain in our hearts we had to leave the cooling behind."

As well as sipping a cold(ish) beer at 35,000 feet, the modern air passenger can enjoy various creature comforts at high altitude, though they don't come cheap. Here are some of them.

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