Mumbai: Even when armed as a kofta, no one expects the humble lauki or bottle gourd to beat chicken braised in aniseed flavoured coconut milk, if the two were to battle it out for gastronomic popularity .Or when given a choice between Goan chicken curry and kaju paneer, the non-vegetarian palate would salivate towards the former, one would think. But strange affairs take place at 35,000 feet. If the battle is being fought on domestic flights that serve cities like Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Nagpur, Rajkot, Pune and if it's a Tuesday, Thursday or Saturday , it's the day of the gourd, and the vegetarian meal would win.
In the past decade, as do mestic passenger traffic grew from 45 million to 81 million, the much-maligned inflight dining meal, the veritable spokesperson of an airline's service standard, increasingly began speaking about the passenger -- their gastronomic quirks and changing eating habits, that is. Currently , over 2 lakh domestic air passengers travel across the country daily , out of which about 75,000 fly full-service carriers (Directorate General of Civil Aviation statistics), that is, on airlines that serve free meals onboard. As flying gets more and more democratised, airlines seem to have discerned certain distinct patterns in food choices that separate flyers to the north and west of India from those to the south and east and those who fly to metros from the ones who travel non-metros.
For one, vegetarianism is on the rise. The 85-year-old national carrier, Air India, which has been witness to changing inflight dining preferences over several decades, vouches that the preference for vegetarian meals has increased. Vistara, which entered the airline industry 16 months ago, knows vegetarian meals are higher in demand. Phee Teik Yeoh, CEO, Vistara said: "The rule of thumb is for 60% of total meals catered to be vegetarian while 40% are nonvegetarian. " This ratio may change according to the destination being served, customer profile and other factors, Yeoh added. Air India gives more clarity on that.
07/07/16 Manju V/Times of India
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In the past decade, as do mestic passenger traffic grew from 45 million to 81 million, the much-maligned inflight dining meal, the veritable spokesperson of an airline's service standard, increasingly began speaking about the passenger -- their gastronomic quirks and changing eating habits, that is. Currently , over 2 lakh domestic air passengers travel across the country daily , out of which about 75,000 fly full-service carriers (Directorate General of Civil Aviation statistics), that is, on airlines that serve free meals onboard. As flying gets more and more democratised, airlines seem to have discerned certain distinct patterns in food choices that separate flyers to the north and west of India from those to the south and east and those who fly to metros from the ones who travel non-metros.
For one, vegetarianism is on the rise. The 85-year-old national carrier, Air India, which has been witness to changing inflight dining preferences over several decades, vouches that the preference for vegetarian meals has increased. Vistara, which entered the airline industry 16 months ago, knows vegetarian meals are higher in demand. Phee Teik Yeoh, CEO, Vistara said: "The rule of thumb is for 60% of total meals catered to be vegetarian while 40% are nonvegetarian. " This ratio may change according to the destination being served, customer profile and other factors, Yeoh added. Air India gives more clarity on that.
07/07/16 Manju V/Times of India
