Bom apetite

Bindu Gopal Rao

Love it or hate it, everyone has an opinion on airline food. After all, a meal on flight, especially a long-duration one, is an important consideration when it comes to choosing an airline. Frequent fliers are making sure airlines up their game as far as in-flight food is concerned.

Personalised

With travel becoming an essential aspect of today’s lifestyle, people in India are increasingly opting for wholesome, emotionally fulfilling and personalised travel experiences. And food is an important part. “Premium services are the need of the hour — whether it is introducing more region-specific local food on menus or upgrading meal ordering devices to tablets and smartphones. Boundaries of in-flight dining are constantly being pushed. Gone are the days when you had just vegetarian and non-vegetarian meal options to pick from. The menus now are vaster, you can pre-book meals and customise them too. Another welcome trend is balanced, healthy, fresh and region-specific meals. The idea is to bring in-flight meals at par with those at fine dine restaurants rather than takeaway joints,” avers celebrity chef Sanjeev Kapoor. He would know, for he has been associated with Singapore Airlines for more than 10 years now. “We are now experimenting with more intricate and exciting menu concepts. For example, the Asian vegetarian meal that is an au natural Indian meal made without the use of any industrial ingredients. In fact, I will be hosting a live demo for some of the guests. The idea is to be in tune with the needs and expectations of the consumers and making their in-flight food experience a memorable one,” adds Kapoor.

Now trending

Gone are the days when airlines offered frozen fast food; the focus is towards offering flavoursome food and not just functional. There is a conscious effort by the airlines to keep the dietary requirements and nutrition value of the food in mind. Sunil Bhaskaran, CEO & MD AirAsia India, explains, “India is a country known for its large assortment of cuisines. With this background in mind, we are bringing in a selection of foods from all the regions of India. We frequently seek review and feedback from the guests and change the cuisines accordingly. We have recently launched the Santan menu that derives its name from the Malaysian word santan, meaning coconut milk, which is a commonly used ingredient in Asian cooking. This menu offers a wide selection of delectable vegetarian, non-vegetarian, Asian and international options for everyone. The menu also offers a special kids’ meal.”

The aviation industry is also focusing on local cuisines as well as healthy meal options. Singapore Airlines will be taking a new approach in the year ahead with seasonal menus. “For this, a panel of chefs will focus on designing dishes. Menus will include appetizers, soups, main course as well as desserts. A lighter cuisine style will be adopted, for example, substituting cream and butter with olive oil as the base for soups. The chefs will also explore the use of lighter sauces and alternative starches such as farro, millet, bulgar and freekeh,” avers David Lim, general manager India, Singapore Airlines.

Doing it right

Besides bringing various cuisines on board, airlines are also maintaining utmost standards of presentation and hygiene. Frequent traveller Chandreyi B, who blogs at The Moonchasers, says, “We have seen genuine efforts towards improving food quality in recent times, with more options in hot meals and better quality desserts; there is Starbucks coffee in ‘premium economy’ by Vistara too! In terms of quality, international airlines like Emirates, Cathay Pacific and Etihad serve tantalising items and regularly introduce season-/celebration-specific items. Earlier this year Emirates launched a cute and delicious Easter special menu.”

The idea is to offer customers a dining experience that they would otherwise enjoy in the comfort of their homes or when they dine-out with friends and family. “To be able to do that, we try to catch the pulse of the consumer. This is why our catering team regularly visits eating hotspots in major cities (like Cyber Hub in Gurgaon) to observe what people prefer to eat — the cuisine or dishes they like or if there’s a consumption habit in particular that we can analyse to tailor our meal service,” says a spokesperson from Vistara.

Satisfaction first

From brainstorming sessions with catering partners to food sampling sessions and rotational menus, airlines are doing a lot more than earlier. “We try to pre-empt what our customers would like on a flight. For instance, on an early morning Delhi-Mumbai flight, most people travel for work. So, we make sure that the meal is light and such that it makes our customers arrive feeling fresh for the rest of the day. Similarly, flights serving dinner usually have customers who’ve had a rushed day, so, we make sure that the dinner tray is sumptuous, filling and yet healthy. We don’t want our customers to get back home feeling hungry. Our ‘chef-on-board’ service is another unique attribute, where uniformed chefs take direct and instant feedback from customers on select flights. It helps them understand customer preferences better and make necessary amendments,” says the Vistara spokesperson.

“As a frequent flyer, I find the airlines catering to modern tastes and changing trends of passengers — so there are healthier options, focus on fresh ingredients as well as destination-specific food to suit passengers. For example, European airlines like AF and Lufthansa have started offering Indian food to their passengers; earlier this was not the case and very often the European food served on these carriers did not appeal to Indian travellers,” says aviation specialist Riaan Jacob George, who is editor of Business Traveller India. So are you ready for a delicious meal in the skies?