One of the key perks of flying is often the catering. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has made airlines to reconsider how food is being served to passengers. Check out the changes on airline catering with British Airways, Singapore Airlines and Turkish Airlines.
British Airways
In a recent email to customers, British Airways unveiled a host of changes to the on-board dining experience. In all classes, meals will no longer be served in individual courses; each passenger will receive a snack box consistent with their class of travel.
“Working closely with our caterers, we have made some changes to what’s available onboard. Our new food service requires less interaction with our cabin crew, greatly reducing physical contact.”
British Airways
Long-Haul Flights
First Class
British Airways First Class catering will be overhauled completely. During the main meals, passengers will be offered a choice of hot dishes and a generic selection of accompaniments.
Alongside hot dishes, British Airways First Class customers will be served a pre-prepared salad, a cold appetiser and a bread roll with butter. Dessert will feature three individual selections.
An Afternoon Tea snack box will be served upon request. These will feature sandwiches, scones and other desserts.
Business Class (Club World)
Long-Haul Business Class passengers will no longer be served any hot meals. Instead, British Airways will serve a cold snack box during the main meal service. Hot meals will be eliminated for the foreseeable future.
Inside, passengers will find a salad with cold meat, a pre-packaged sandwich, a selection of cheese and crackers and one dessert. All meals will be served with a bottle of water.
Breakfast will be served on overnight long-haul flights. Club World passengers will receive another snack box featuring fruit and yoghurt, a sandwich, muesli, fresh fruit, a muffin, crackers and a bottle of water.
Premium Economy and Economy
British Airways will serve Premium Economy and Economy passengers the exact same snack box. The main snack box will feature a sandwich or pastry, a small salad, one dessert and a bottle of water.
On overnight flights, British Airways will continue to offer breakfast. This will consist of a sandwich or croissant, a bread roll, yoghurt and water.
Short-Haul Flights
Business Class (Club Europe)
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, British Airways served Club Europe passengers a single-tray meal. Moving forward, a single snack box will be served featuring a sandwich, a small salad, dessert and a bottle of water. No hot dishes will be served.
Economy Class (Euro Traveller)
Up until recently, British Airways only offered food for purchase in Euro Traveller. During the COVID-19 pandemic, passengers have been given complimentary water and a small snack. Pretzels, popcorn or crisps will be offered indefinitely.
Subsection Sources: Head for Points and British Airways
Singapore Airlines
Singapore Airlines has also made sweeping changes to the food service onboard their aircraft. On long-haul flights beyond Asia all meals will be served sealed, to avoid any risk of contamination. In addition, offerings will be simplified and fewer accompaniments will be served with meals.
On flights to China and Southeast Asia, passengers will be served a snack bag with items such as sandwiches, fruit, potato crisps, etc. Singapore Airlines has said that these snack bags will replace full meals “due to regulatory requirements”.
Turkish Airlines
Turkish Airlines will be downgrading all their in-flight catering options. Each class will be served a snack box or bag only on flights longer than two hours.
Catering options will be vastly similar to those on British Airways, as both airlines are catered by Do&Co. All the following details are courtesy of ISTFlyer on the FlyerTalk forum.
Long-Haul Flights
Business Class
On flights longer than 8 hours, Turkish Airlines will serve Business Class passengers two meals. The main meal will consist of a sandwich or wrap, a cold salad, 2 cold appetisers, a dessert, chips, pide (soft Middle-Eastern bread) and water.
Prior to landing, passengers will be served a second box featuring a sandwich, a cold appetiser, a small salad, a dessert and water.
Economy Class
Similarly to Business Class, two meals will be served in Economy Class on flights over 8 hours. In the first meal service, Turkish Airlines will provide a box with a sandwich, a salad, a dessert, juice and water.
Prior to landing, Economy Class passengers will be served a snack bag featuring a sandwich, a pre-packaged cake or muffin, juice and water.
Medium-Haul Flights
Business Class
On international flights between 2-8 hours, business class passengers will be served a single snack box containing a sandwich, a cold appetiser, a small salad, a dessert and water. Crackers will also be served on flights over 5 hours long.
Economy Class
On flights between 2-8 hours, Economy Class passengers will be served at least one snack bag. On longer medium-haul flights, passengers will be served two snack bags. Both will contain a sandwich, a pre-packaged cake, juice and water.
All Routes Up to 2 Hours
Business and Economy Classes
On domestic and short-haul international routes, passengers in both classes will only receive a bottle of water. Tea or coffee will no longer be served on any route of any length.
Subsection Source: ISTFlyer (via FlyerTalk)
What are your thoughts on these changes? Do you know any other airlines changes in their on-board catering? Share with us in the comments section.
I flew with Delta Airlines between ATL and CDG on 9/22/2020. The main meal was decent, not far from their usual service in Coach class, with a choice of two hot dishes, a salad and ice cream.
A wine service was also provided. The breakfast before landing was decent in quality, but really too small. A mini (or micro) cinnamon roll with a fruit salad, where I am sure there were less than 10 chunks of melon and grape. Covid can not justify everything to reduce the service. Why are restaurants making efforts to continue to feed customers in a decent way while airlines are cutting the dining service. It is now they have to capitalize on the customer experience.
The race to the bottom has received a massive boost, the likes of BA will do everything in their power to keep the cold boxed food, we (who travel long haul in business class (vacations) are all hoping that VS comes through this pandemic OK, otherwise may have to look at USA airlines for Trans Atlantic. East bound it is ME3 only.
I may want to disagree with this. I’ve seen four videos on youtube so far where people are “documenting” what it was like flying with Turkish airlines. With regards to the meals, all of them only got a “snack bag” which consists of a sandwich, cake, nuts, a box of juice and a bottle of water. Those with longer hauls received two “snack bags”, which I think is unacceptable for the price we’re giving, Business class or not 🙁
Totally unreasonable and only to save $$$ by airlines.. Why would anyone pay big bucks for business class to get a box???? All over the world at present, you can go to a restaurant and eat a meal… why is eating a hot meal in an airplane any different? This boils my blood as a frequent biz class traveler.
Totally agree. If restaurants are open at the departure and arrival cities, why is essentially the same service denied me simply because I’m in a metal tube?
I am flying with Cathay Pacific Honk Kong to LHR, Busines class on the 14 July 2020 & have been trying to discover what type of food & drinks will be available, but there isn’t any way to contact Cathay Pacific to find out, they don’t answer their phones or respond to emails, for all of their advertising they might just as well shut down.
Feel free to share with us once you have taken your flight, thanks!
My question is why is it safe to serve hot meals to first class passengers and not to business class and/or economy? Seems to me that the virus wouldnt care if its hopping onto a first class or business class tray….just saying
That is a valid point.
There is no such thing as a temporary downgrade in service on an airline.
I totally agree that I’m sure the impetus was health related… but I think we would be naive not to also acknowledge that by moving to this kind of Covid-induced catering protocol, that the airlines aren’t also lined squarely up for a sizable catering cost reduction — and one that, for the most part, can be defended/justified/covered by the covid issue.
just got into the Business class travel side side of things in the last year or so mainly flying with BA , I,m sure they can still serve a hot meal in a sealed container, I think the airlines saying it reduces the interaction between passenger and crew is a load of rubbish as they are both going to be handed to you in the same way they normally would , so where is the difference? as previous emails they are willing to pack the aircraft to capacity so what’s the difference between serving hot and cold food.
I would take this decision if it was really to save jobs but somehow I don’t think so , I have a flight coming this Sept with BA and do you think I will be compensated/ refunded if the Lounges are closed and only served sandwiches.
very sad and unfortunate for long haul flights. people will be paying more for less
I understand that the airlines are really struggling financially, but the cost of a Business or First Class ticket includes the perks of the lounge and the meals. The airlines (prior to covid) have made a point of marketing these perks. Since I’m holding some Business class tickets purchased prior to the pandemic, it seems almost a bait-and-switch to now say “sorry, you just get a box” of food. The least they could do is make it a really good box of food. The stuff in the pictures here from BA and others looks really bad. Given the very high cost of these tickets, the airlines could afford to spend $100/100E on providing at least an admirable box meal.
If I could believe this is a temporary situation until there becomes some control of the Covid19 virus, I would say this is a reasonable thing for the airlines to do. However, we can count on the airlines using the pandemic as a crutch to put to a final end the real joy of flying in business or first class. We will never again see the fine restaurant style dining experience in first and to a certain extent in business, of being served separate courses with choice of hot entrees. Higher ticket prices for both first and business will remain and we may even see an end to business class. And airlines that don’t have first anymore will abandon their business cabin for a true and fully configured Spirit airlines experience. If you have ever flown British Airways domestic “business”, this is where it is all headed. Cramped seating with a small portion of a cold salad or sandwich for a “meal”. Having grown up experiencing the luxurious service and leg room of the piston airliners of the 1950s, seeing the dawn of the jet age introducing cramped economy seating, seeing the degraded business, first meal service experienced in the late 80s and early 90s, and currently given a so called cheap fare airline choice where right now you pay for everything you touch on the airplane except the privilege to use a cramped downsized lavatory, I would say maybe major carriers should fail so we can start all over again so we can once again enjoy what use to be a pleasurable experience on an aircraft at 35000 feet. My tears are falling all over this regretful comment. My God what have done to this world of ours? Oh wait, I know, it all comes down to how much a corporation can stuff the company’s stockholders and CEOs pockets while the traveling public decides this is quite normal and continues to finance the corporate greed for money that will far surpass any other disguised goal of a corporation doing business.
Think of all the staff they will be able to save
One emoji: 🤢
Oh well if that’s the way it is going on airlines. They will not be getting any of my money from now on for business or first class. I had three good years of travel. We all now that prices are going to go through the roof. There is no way I shall be paying for business class anymore. Cattle class for me now.
Corona has given greedy companies a strong excuse to reduce the bad services but NEVER reduce prices…hopeful corona stay fro LONGER time indeed
END OF BUSINESS CLASS FLYING! The perks are going and I refuse to sit with a face mask for hrs on end and be served a Picnic Lunch box. FORGET IT !!!
May we have some information on drinks / wine service in first and business please.
In most cases, wine selection will usually be limited to 2 whites/2 reds and a smaller variety of drinks.
Guess that the day airlines outsourcing all inflight meals to Subways, McDonald’s, KFC, Pizza Hut, & Dunkin’ Donuts is not too far away.
Would probably be better by the looks of it….I’d bring my own, including the booze…
A good excuse for airlines to safe money without reducing the airfares. If the air is the best in a plane then i not see why they are scared for the interfering with guests while packing the plane full.
That they simplify by serving everything in one time on a tray also for business class is acceptable. Will avoid these snackbox airlines for sure and use the one who still offer the minimum service i expect in business class.
Yes, if only you could bring your own wine. Alas, you could only bring a 3-ounce portion.
Plus the airlines have made it illegal to bring your own.
I was on an overseas flight once and a passenger I was chatting with offered me a sip of a schnapps he had proudly purchased on his trip. You would have thought we were setting off a terrorist attack! They made him talk to the pilot, they threatened to land the plane early and have him arrested! All for a sip. I guess it’s truly terrifying to the airlines to think of passengers drinking their own stuff. I guess we will just enjoy the crappy box lunch and bottle of water, while they pocket the $5,000 for the ticket.
I’m very happy to hear that airlines downgrade their meals offering. Would love to listen all those whining and complaining like 5 year old child. 😊😊😊😊😊🧓🧓🧓🧓🧓🧓🧓🧓
Just a bit more information please. What makes you happy about them downgrading meal service?
airlines take advantage of the pandemic to save money and and put in place new protocols. This is a shame, especially when you consider most of the lounges are also closed.
Personally, apart from my flight tickets already issued, I dont think I will fly business class anymore on day flights
Hmmm… there goes one of the joys of flying business or first class. Sad>
I imagine that some of these airlines will be reluctant to return to the previous meal service as these “cheaper” offerings will save them money. Mind you, the breakfast box looks preferable to the many rubbery omelettes I have been served.