| Picture: Image Bank |
They may taste like nothing you’ve ever eaten before,
but research shows the majority of charter passengers still want an
in-flight meal. No matter how inedible, they’re part of the
holiday experience – apparently.
This has left charter airlines with something of a catering
dilemma. Desperate to compete on fares with the low-cost carriers,
which have made a virtue of stripping the meal out of the flight,
they have either pared them down to the bare minimum or begun
charging passengers separately for meals.
Excel Airways recently cut back on catering on short-haul routes
while upgrading its menus on long haul, but most charter airlines
have introduced meal charges over the past couple of years.
Monarch Scheduled, which operates to typical charter
destinations, started charging for meals last summer. Sales and
marketing director Jonathan Crick said: “We are hoping to start
making a profit on catering by the summer.”
Now the UK’s biggest airline catering company, Alpha
Flight Services, has devised a new meal service that it claims is
so much better, and cheaper than the traditional service, it will
prompt many airlines to reintroduce free meals.
Blue Sky is a trayless meal service using disposable equipment.
Served in a rolled up mat that includes a bag for passengers to
clear away their own rubbish, the meals take up less space on the
aircraft, leaving more room for duty-free products. They are also
faster to deliver and clear away – giving cabin crew more
time for on-board sales – are cheaper, involve no washing up
and result in quicker turnaround times.
MyTravel Airways was the launch customer for Blue Sky at the end
of last year, and has now decided to incorporate meals back into
the holiday price. Flight-only customers will be charged £10
return.
Managing director Frank Pullman said: “We thought of getting rid
of the airline meal but we realised the meal is important for our
passengers, and we would be alienating people if we got rid of
it.”
Alpha is confident Blue Sky will be adopted by other airlines.
It already provides catering for Britannia and Excel, among
others.
Chief executive Kevin Abbott said: “Our research showed 63% of
passengers expect a full hot meal and only 15% expect a light
snack, but only 20% of passengers rated previous in-flight meals as
good, or very good.
“Within a couple of years the traditional tray-based in-flight
service will be gone.”
Thomas Cook Airlines said it was considering adopting Blue Sky
for this summer.
