While it’s fair to say airline food has improved markedly in recent years, for many of us there’s still a moment of nervous hesitation as we pull back the foil lid on the meal to reveal the contents within. We might spend the first minute or so poking and prodding the steaming morsels in an attempt to correctly identify them, or we might simply decide to forgo the food and swiftly return the lid to its original position. Yes, in-flight meals can still be a confusing, mystical affair.
So it was with some interest that we learned of how European low-cost carrier Air Baltic is hoping to please its fliers by offering them a chance to create their own meals online prior to boarding. So if you don’t fancy the usual “chicken of beef”, you can go for the grilled pork and garlic potatoes or teriyaki salmon instead.
To make it a bit more fun, the airline will let you choose your meal by dragging and dropping the various items of food onto a virtual airline tray. Hot meals cost between 7 and 12 euros ($9 – $15), a Greek salad will set you back 8 euros ($10), a bread roll 1 euro (1.30), and a glass of wine 4 euros ($5). In all, passengers will have 20 items to choose from.
The Latvian airline, which flies to destinations throughout Europe, provides full dietary information with each item of food, while four dietary meal options are also offered – gluten free, lactose free, vegetarian and Kosher.
Janis Vanags, Air Baltic’s vice president of corporate communications, told airline food website Inflight Feed, “With passengers now being able to create their own in-flight meal, the possibilities are endless; they can fully customise their inflight meal tray to their liking.”
The new service kicks off next month, with passengers required to manage their meal via the website up to 24 hours before the flight. If you forget, you won’t go hungry, although you can expect a meal service along the lines of the more traditional “get what you’re given” approach.
[via Daily Mail]
