Skyscanner Airline Food Awards: Eastern Flavour Most Popular with Flyers

Emirates has been scored as the best airline for in-flight meals according to a recent survey by international flights comparison site Skyscanner.net.

EDINBURGH, Scotland--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Eastern flavour proved to be popular with air passengers, with six of the top ten airlines in the Skyscanner survey results based in the Middle East and Asia.

“Airlines are definitely placing more importance on the quality of food they serve. Although there are some notable exceptions, airlines are making huge efforts to provide good-quality meals, with many even appointing celebrity chefs as consultants.”

Passengers on flights to Las Vegas, New York and other US destinations may not find the inflight cuisine quite so appetising however, as North American carriers are conspicuous by their absence in the top ten. Four European airlines made the grade, with Lufthansa coming runner-up and flagship Russian carrier Aeroflot taking fourth place. However the national airline for France, a country renowned for its culinary expertise, only just scraped into the top ten.

The survey of 1,200 people asked respondents to rate their in-flight meals based on three categories; taste, presentation and choice. An overall classification was then calculated for each of the 35 airlines featured in the survey.

The top ten highest scoring airlines (in ranking order) were:

1. Emirates

2. Lufthansa

3. Singapore Airlines

4. Aeroflot

5. Qatar

6. Malaysia Airlines

7. Thai Airways

8. Etihad

9. KLM

10. Air France

“Emirates is passionate about providing great in-flight cuisine and we see it as a crucial part of our product offering. Individual menus are carefully planned for each route we serve to ensure we cater for the diverse cultures and preferences of our international customers,” said Robin Padgett, Emirates' Vice President - Aircraft Catering. “It is particularly rewarding to have received this accolade directly from the most discerning of judges - the travelling public.”

Skyscanner Director Barry Smith said: “Airlines are definitely placing more importance on the quality of food they serve. Although there are some notable exceptions, airlines are making huge efforts to provide good-quality meals, with many even appointing celebrity chefs as consultants.

“It is interesting to see these Middle Eastern and Asian airlines ranking so highly. Airline food is notorious for being bland and perhaps it is the use of these strong eastern flavours and spices that is contributing to their popularity. Possibly it’s also because exotic flavours get people in a holiday mood!”

Notes to editors:

• 1,264 people took part in the survey which ran from November 2010 to January 2011
• Only airlines which received ten or more votes were given an overall classification.

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