In-flight food: love it, or hate it? Sure, it can be pretty damn bland, but there’s nothing like a random little box of weird, blisteringly hot food to break up the mundanity of a flight. Either way though, there could soon be another airline where we might have to go without it (for free).
That’s because AirFrance is considering scrapping the complimentary offering and testing out a buy-on-board system on its short and medium-haul flights from next year. The routes that will host the trial are those from Paris Charles to Gaulle airport to Helsinki and Lisbon, but it could be expanded across the network.
As it stands, the operator edges other low-cost rivals such as Ryanair and easyJet as it provides all passengers with a cheeky sandwich and a drink on the majority of its economy class flights.
AirFrance won’t be completely depriving passengers of free food – everybody on board will still be offered a sweet or salty snack and a hot drink – but if the buy-on-board scheme is properly introduced, it will only affect economy passengers.
Sure, this might be a little disappointing to those of us who love a bit of free grub, but there is one major upside to the introduction of a scheme like this: less food waste!
According to euronews, the International Air Transport Association recorded a staggering 1.14 million tonnes of food waste from in-flight catering in 2023 – anything to reduce that figure has gotta be a step in the right direction, eh?
Unsurprisingly, Ryanair kicked off the concept of buy-on-board food services for flights back in the ‘90s, and that seems to have driven the trend of phasing it out across other airlines. British Airways and Lufthansa have also done so in recent years, and KLM is considering it too – keep an eye on this page for updates on whether this becomes a permanent fixture in AirFrance’s service.
While we’re on the subject, here’s a roundup of the airlines that offer the best in-flight food, according to MoneySuperMarket.
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