As more Indians take to the skies, for work or on holiday, airlines are now offering a range of menus that connect the subcontinent with international finance centres and global aviation hubs. Singapore Airlines, which operates flights from six cities in India, has rolled out its ‘Book the Cook’ offering for those flying between Mumbai or Delhi and the island nation in all classes except economy.
The ‘Book the Cook’ feature offers travellers the chance to pre-book a meal online with one of Singapore Airlines’ eight chefs, who are a part of their International Culinary Panel. For those craving Indian food, chef Sanjeev Kapoor offers curated meals like the Shahi Thali for suites and first class and the Ruchi Thali for business class that offer a mix of rice, roti, chutneys and entrées. Other chefs on the panel include Alfred Portale (of the Michelin-starred Gotham Bar and Grill in New York City) and Yoshihiro Murata who heads the kitchen at Kyoto’s three-Michelin starred Kikunoi. David Lim, general manager for India at Singapore Airlines, says, “What we have found is that the flyers want a complete Indian meal, and not an adulterated kind of menu. So, we have invested in creating authentic Indian dishes on our flight.” While those flying out of India benefit from caterers in major Indian cities that are familiar with local fare, Lim stresses that even for flights originating out of Singapore, guests can pre-order Indian meals online which will then be loaded onto their flight.
While ‘Manage My Booking’ allows a certain degree of customisation, when it comes to taking flights and ensuring a meal that is preferred, airlines of all stripes have been working on their Indian offerings as they have started flying more frequently to the country. The advent of the internet and the control it gives passengers means that airlines can now use data to track the passenger percentage that requests cuisines and meals on different sectors. For frequent flyers with a certain carrier, their preferences can be learned over time, minimising waste and creating a truly personalised inflight experience. Aaron Miles Claxton, senior vice president, Qatar Airways for catering services says, “It becomes slightly more complex when considering connecting flights across the network since with joining/transiting passengers connecting through Doha such flights often have a larger mix of passenger profiles. Managing of data is therefore very critical to mitigate potential disappointment and thus on some routes notably some north American ports, we are able to predict higher number of Indian travellers and thus design our offerings accordingly.”
Explains Gurpreet Sadyora, inflight chef for Etihad Airways, “The most popular dishes onboard have been tandoori kebabs and Indian chaat items – these dishes have not only been popular among Indian guests but have also featured in menus on our flights to Europe.” As airlines work to integrate Indian fare into their regularly rotating menu, expect to see more food options turning up on flights that are popular with Indian travellers. George Ettiyil, senior director sales, Lufthansa Group elaborates, “On routes ex-USA, we have Indian food in economy class, because we saw that in December and January, there are many Indian passengers travelling via Germany to the US. We learned over the years, that not everybody orders a special meal and therefore it made sense for us to implement some Indian food in our regular standard menu.”
Like Singapore Airlines, Lufthansa is also working with a panel of chefs. The current representative for India is Vinod Saini of The Leela Palace New Delhi, whose dal jamavar is popular onboard.
With Indian fare differing across regions and states, international airlines have recognised that flights to New Delhi and Bengaluru cannot serve the same fare. So, working with their in-house chefs, airlines are now customising offerings and serving them on sectors that are popular with subcontinental flyers. Emirates adopts a local focus when putting together their menus; explains Essa Sulaiman Ahmad, vice president for India and Nepal. He says, “Emirates creates bespoke menus for each city in India that they fly into or out of, curating one to two dishes specifically for that city.”
The Dubai-based airline is also known for its thoughtful onboard offerings during festivals. Ahmad explains, “During the country’s ‘festival of colours’ – Holi, Indian passengers in all classes are served a specially-designed ‘Happy Holi’ box including one of the festival’s staple desserts, ‘Gujiya’ – a crescent-shaped deep-fried dumpling filled with sweetened semolina, mawa, toasted coconut, dried fruits and nuts.” These boxes have also been created for Diwali as well as for international celebrations like Christmas and Ramadan to name a few.
While dining onboard sees airlines serve up fare that is familiar, there is a lot of recipe development that goes into each dish or tray offered to guests. As Moran Birger, acting head of sales for Asia Pacific and the Middle East for British Airways elaborates, “Our sense of taste decreases by about 30 per cent when we are at high altitudes. With this in mind, we have created the ‘Height Cuisine’ menu, after conducting extensive research around holistic food.” This means that the airline has looked into not just the food being served, but also how it’s served explains Birger. Consequently, the flag carrier of the UK has also been experimenting with using ingredients that are high in umami on flights, with tomatoes cited as one such vegetable. Lufthansa, has done some of their own research into how taste buds are affected on a flight and as Ettiyil explains, “Our perception of saltiness and sweetness drop when inside a pressurised cabin, so a few think eating Indian spicy food is not an ideal idea, while others prefer to consume food with higher spice levels.” Therefore dishes like chicken tikka masala have to toe that line. These airlines also monitor social media constantly, to seek out flyer feedback thus ensuring that their dishes hit the taste buds, the way their chefs desire.
Onboard cuisine is now seen as a differentiator and many airlines are branding it as such. Qatar’s offerings are grouped under the Quisine tag while Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific is offering its Indian dishes on long-haul flights. Those travelling in business class or higher on Singapore Airlines can look forward to the signature satays that kick off any meal. This creates onboard touches that keep customers loyal, while also showcasing each airline’s catering prowess.
A 2018 Reuters report titled India Outbound Tourism Market Analysis has named India, as one of the fastest growing outbound tourism markets in the world. As the Indian outbound sector continues to grow airlines will cater a lot more local Indian fare in the future. Perhaps chef Sadyora of Etihad Airways sums it up best when she says, “Indian food has changed drastically over the years. It has taken a more modern approach with the use of varied ingredients as well as in terms of plating and presentation. For onboard food offerings, we try and keep it as authentic as possible because we have a varied passenger profile.”
Inflight entertainment
As the inflight experience gets more personalised, airlines are working to ensure that flyers from the subcontinent find something to watch on their TV screens as well. While Emirates’ ICE Inflight Entertainment System has 294 Indian titles showing for the month, other airlines ensure that their roster includes something local – often in languages like Hindi, Tamil or Telugu. The range of newspapers and magazines being offered at airline lounges also reflects the growing number of Indian flyers with Turkish Airlines, Etihad Airways and others stocking reading material from the country in their lounge. Singapore Airlines, on their Ultra long-haul flight between Singapore and New York has added 200 hours more of content to their KrisWorld entertainment system, including regional Indian TV shows and movies allowing passengers to watch only regional Indian fare for the entire 18-hour 45-minute journey.
Aatish Nath
