Food Archives – London Air Travel

New BA Club World catering on London Heathrow – New York JFK

BA will introduce radical improvements to Club World catering on Friday 1 September, starting with the New York JFK route.

London Air Travel » Food

New Club World Food & Beverage (Credit: British Airways)

BA will introduce radical changes to the presentation and quality of meals in its Club World business class from Friday 1 September 2017.

The changes will first be introduced on London Heathrow – New York JFK and will be progressively rolled out on its network throughout 2018.

BA will also introduce further changes such as new bedding and amenity kits from The White Company later this year. This is all part of a a £400m investment in Club World BA promised late last year.

So what has changed?

Gone are the are the post take-off packets of nuts and paper sachets of salt and pepper. The airline will introduce entirely new menus, crockery and glassware.

The way you choose your food will also change. You will choose your starter and dessert from a cart displayed by the crew in the aisle. The starter will also include a choice of hot soup, which is not presently on the main menu.

You will pre-order your main course as normal. However, the choice of main courses has been reduced from four to three.

For dessert, you will have a choice of desserts from a cart and a cheese board.

If we were to make one criticism, it appears BA have not introduced any further choice of coffee in Club World!

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Gordon Ramsay Plane Food has reopened at London Heathrow Terminal 5

Gordon Ramsay Plane Food restaurant has reopened at London Heathrow Terminal 5 following a refurbishment.

London Air Travel » Food

Gordon Ramsay - London Heathrow Terminal 5 — Gordon Ramsay – London Heathrow Terminal 5 (Image Credit: Gordon Ramsay Restaurants)

Gordon Ramsay Plane Food restaurant at London Heathrow Terminal 5 has reopened today, Monday 14 August 2017, after a refurbishment.

The restaurant first opened in March 2008. It was groundbreaking in two respects. First, for raising the bar for airport dining with such a well known chef committing to an airport restaurant where there are limitations on how food can be prepared. It also introduced well publicised dedicated takeaway “picnics” for eating in-flight. Heston Blumenthal followed suit with The Perfectionists Cafe at London Heathrow Terminal 2.

The new restaurant promises a new Asian bar with dishes prepared before guests, a new cocktail bar and a newly refurbished dining area with refreshed menus which can be used for private events.

There is also a new take-on-board Picnic Menu with breakfast, vegetarian, fish and meat options.

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Is BA going to scrap free meals in long-haul economy?

Is British Airways really going to scrap free hot meals in long-haul economy? In short, no.

London Air Travel » Food

British Airways Economy Catering (Pre-Paid Gourmet Meal)

Another week, another BA headline in the Sunday papers!

This weekend, BA is charged with plotting to scrap free meals in long-haul economy.

Step forward The Sunday Times which notes:

The airline could start charging long-distance flyers for a menu drawn from the aisles of Mark & Spencer, Alex Cruz, BA’s boss, has revealed. The move will spark fresh claims that penny-pinching is reducing BA to “a budget airline”.

In an interview with The Sunday Times, Cruz said that after “a rough start” customers now welcomed the chance to pay for M&S food on European flights. The airline’s buy-on-board system, which replaced free food on short flights in January, is “a perfect decision”, he said.

“It’s going great. Customers say to us: ‘Finally, I have good choices. No more chicken or beef’.” The service could be extended to long-haul economy. “We might do it,” he said.

But is that what is really going on?

Not quite.
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BA plans new food & beverage and in-flight amenities for Club World

BA plans a radical improvement to its Club World business class catering, starting on the New York JFK route in Autumn 2017.

London Air Travel » Food

A typical British Airways Club World meal tray

Any one who has flown British Airways’ Club World long-haul business class on more than a handful of occasions will be more than familiar with the in-flight service.

It begins with the offer of pre-take off drinks of champagne, orange juice and water. The hot towels, amenity kits and bottles of water are dispatched. There is a bar and main meal service, with one choice of coffee to follow. A widely varying offer of snacks are available in the self-service Club Kitchen. Before landing there is a second meal service, typically Afternoon Tea or a light breakfast, depending on the direction of travel.

Over the years the catering budget has gone up and down, depending on external and internal financial pressures. There have been small initiatives, such as the Heston Blumenthal inspired “Height Cuisine”, changes to the presentation of meals and the ability to pre-order a main course. The Club Kitchen gets periodically gutted and restocked. The quantity of sandwiches and cake for Afternoon Tea has been forever tweaked with. However, the service has fundamentally remained the same.

Today, BA has unveiled planned changes to its Club World business class with specific changes to catering and the in-flight service. This was first announced at its parent company’s (IAG) Capital Markets Day late last year.

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BA introduces new Club Europe catering

London Air Travel » Food

British Airways Club Europe Cabin (Image Credit: British Airways)

Regular passengers in British Airways short-haul business class “Club Europe” have not had a great time of late.

After the “densification” (IAG & BA lexicon for adding more seats) of its Airbus short-haul fleet of aircraft the leg room in Club Europe is no different to EuroTraveller economy. More seats on aircraft also means more competition for space for hand baggage in the overhead lockers.

On the ground, BA has closed some business class lounges in Europe in locations such as Dusseldorf. Fast track ground facilities such as access to priority security lanes are not guaranteed for BA passengers at many European airports.

Over the past fifteen years or so, the catering offer has also been steadily reduced. One of the most notable changes was the replacement of hot meals with a cold breakfast plate on mid-morning flights and the introduction of Afternoon Tea. (Although Afternoon Tea has some fans, we think BA has a frankly absurd obsession with serving it on the ground and in the air, not least because nobody in the UK actually eats Afternoon Tea.)

By its own admission, BA has looked at withdrawing Club Europe altogether, at least at London Gatwick. However, the cabin has soldiered on. Indeed, BA is adding Club Europe to its UK domestic routes from 1 April 2017.

In one of the most significant changes we can recall in recent years, BA has now substantially redesigned the catering routines for all Club Europe flights to and from London Gatwick and Heathrow.
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BA introduces M&S “Buy On Board” from Wednesday 11 January 2017

London Air Travel » Food

British Airways partnership with Marks & Spencer "M&S On Board" — British Airways partnership with Marks & Spencer “M&S On Board” (Image Credit: British Airways)

This Wednesday, 11 January 2017, marks a significant change to BA’s UK Domestic & EuroTraveller European short-haul flights to and from London Gatwick to London Heathrow.

The current offer of complimentary food and drink will be replaced by Buy-On-Board food and drink from Marks & Spencer. You can view the food menu and the drinks menu on the BA website.

Key points to note are:

Payment will only be accepted by credit card or Avios from your British Airways Executive Club account
Cash will not be accepted
To pay with Avios you will need to have the latest version of the BA app on your smartphone (it will show a barcode on the “My Account” screen of the app)

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BA introduces catering improvements to World Traveller & Club World

London Air Travel » Food

BA Club World Cabin - 2006 (Image Credit: British Airways) — BA Club World Cabin – 2006 (Image Credit: British Airways)

British Airways has announced it is to introduce a series of improvements to in flight catering in World Traveller economy and Club World business class.

The improvements to World Traveller include an improved main meal tray with a better starter. Cheese and biscuits will also be added on most outbound flights from London Heathrow and London Gatwick (except flights to India, Japan and Korea).
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BA Introduces Pre-ordering Of Long Haul Meals

London Air Travel » Food

British Airways is to introduce pre-ordering of main course meals for passengers travelling in World Traveller Plus, Club World and First Class on select long-haul flights departing London Heathrow from Monday 1 December 2014.

This move has been long anticipated. Indeed, it was originally announced a year ago.

At first, the option to pre-order meals will only be available on long-haul flights from London Heathrow to Dallas Fort-Worth, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Rio de Janeiro, Seattle and Vancouver.

Passengers will be able to pre-order meals from Tuesday 18 November 2014 via the Manage My Booking tool.

Update: This service has now been extended to flights from London Heathrow to Sao Paulo, Buenos Aires, Mexico City, Houston, Austin and San Diego for travel after 5 February 2015.

In addition, from 1 February 2015 pre-ordering of meals will be available on flights between London Heathrow and Atlanta, Denver, Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, Baltimore, Toronto, Montreal and Calgary that depart after 1 March 2015.

If history is anything to go by, the system should be rolled out to more long-haul flights relatively quickly if the trial is successful.

“Taste Of London” returns on 18 – 22 June 2014 but without BA?

London Air Travel » Food

British Airways Tailfin, Airbus 318 G-EUNA (Image Credit Nick Morrish/British Airways)

We’ve been prompted to write this in response to a large number of search enquiries for the annual Taste Of London festival which returns to its home in Regents Park from Wednesday 18 June to Sunday 22 June 2014.

For many years, British Airways has been a sponsor of this event and many members of its Executive Club frequent flyer programme have taken enjoyed BA’s hospitality in a dedicated tent for BA frequent flyers.

Unfortunately, it seems that BA’s relationship with the Taste festival has come to an end and BA does not appear to be sponsoring this year’s festival so as things stand at the moment there are no opportunities for discounted tickets or complimentary hospitality for BA frequent flyers at this year’s event.