(Wine-Searcher) - Janice Fuhrman talks to the people who decide which wines will be served at 30,000 feet.

When aviation experts talk about fluid dynamics, they're probably not talking about wine; when Clara Yip of Cathay Pacific Airlines thinks about the concept, she most certainly is.

Yip is catering manager for the Hong Kong-based carrier, presiding over a "tasting lab" at the airline's headquarters in Cathay City, near the Hong Kong International Airport, where she and two wine consultants choose the 1.6 million bottles of wine passengers imbibe each year.

"Our premium passengers in Business and First class expect very good wines onboard and that expectation has risen as passengers have learned more about wine," says Yip, who holds a Diploma in Wine and Spirits from the WSET. "They are more interested and open to exploring new labels, and possess much more knowledge than they did 10 years ago."

Working from a complex of buildings that includes a 500-room hotel and two restaurants for employees, she is joined by Australian wine consultant Roy Moorfield and Hong Kong wine writer Lau Chi Sun. The gang of three meets half a dozen times a year to swirl, sip, and select wines for the airline, a multiple-category winner of the annual "Cellars in the Sky" awards from Business Traveller magazine.

Moorfield says choosing wines for flight is a tough job.

"It is hard work because we taste all tendered wines 'masked' and this can be up to hundreds per day. It takes a lot of thought to ensure our list is satisfying and informative."

Over at United Airlines, consultant Doug Frost is the voice of the wine industry. A Master Sommelier and Master of Wine, Frost estimates he tastes about 1200 wines a year in pursuit of the right bottles for airline passengers.