Top 10 airlines for in-flight food revealed

February 16th, 2012

UAE carriers Etihad Airways and Emirates Airline were ranked among the top five airlines in the world for the quality of their in-flight food, according to the results of a new survey.

Flight comparison website Skyscanner.net asked 100 passengers to rate the food served on 19 different international airlines and the UAE carriers ranked in the top five, while Doha-based Qatar Airways trailed at number 15 on the list.

Coming in at number three, Etihad Airways’ offering was described by reviewers as “tasty food served very hot.” The Abu Dhabi carrier last year began operating in-flights chefs in its first class cabin to serve passengers on its flights to London, Sydney, Melbourne and Paris and is planning to introduce the service on other routes in early 2012.

“Nice sizes and your never left hungry,” was how reviewers rated Dubai-based Emirates Airlines and the quality of food earned it fifth on the list. Topping the list were Turkish Airlines and Singapore Airlines.

The quality of in-flight catering has improved “tremendously” in recent years and passengers are prepared to pay more for a higher standard of food when they fly, the president Dubai-based aviation services company dnata told Arabian Business last year.

“My honest view is that the quality and standard of meals onboard has gone up tremendously over the years,” said Gary Chapman, president of dnata, the aviation services company owned by the state-owned The Emirates Group.

“It has changed and people are prepared to pay more to get a better experience,” he added.

“The stereotype of the barely edible in-flight meal appears to be a thing of the past… Investment in food appears to have been successful – many reviewers in our study described food as being ‘delicious’ or ‘tasty’ and over half of the airlines included in the study achieved a score of 70 percent or more,” said Mary Porter, Skyscanner’s food expert.

10 Air France

Flight comparison website Skyscanner has published its ranking of the world's best airlines in terms of in-flight meals. The results were collated after more than 100 passengers from around the world were asked to score the food on 19 different airlines, based on presentation and taste. At number 10 is Air France with a total score of 70.