With searches for ‘what to eat before a flight’ up by +150% since April1, a new survey by online travel agent loveholidays2 has revealed the pre and inflight food preferences of frequent travellers.
The survey, which explored the habits of both long and short haul travellers, revealed 65% of frequent flyers spend additional money on food in the airport in case they won’t like the inflight options, with four in 10 (38%) spending between £11 and £50.
Despite pre-flight spending, just under half (47%) of respondents said the overall quality of the food on their last flight was ‘good’ or ‘excellent’, while 48% of those with a dietary requirement also agreed the food on offer for them was ‘good’ or ‘excellent.’
Nearly half (48%) of frequent long-haul travellers said they would prefer to eat a nutritious, well-balanced meal on a flight, with a quarter (27%) saying their ideal meal would consist of a protein such as meat, alongside salad or a vegetable, a hot drink and a dessert.
Four in five (82%) frequent flyers admit to drinking caffeine before a flight, with the average long haul traveller consuming at least four caffeinated drinks before and during their flight.
Despite spending less time in transit, short haul travellers manage to consume, on average, two and a half caffeinated beverages before and during their flights.
The top five long and short-haul airlines for nutritious inflight meals, according to a Nutrition Coach
Armed with the results of the study, loveholidays, which sells both long and short-haul holidays, worked with Alice Williams, Nutrition Coach at Origym, to analyse the inflight menus of different airlines3.
Below, Alice has developed a ranking and reveals the top five long and short-haul airlines offering the most nutritional selection of inflight meals.
The top five long-haul airlines with the most nutritious selection of inflight food options:
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Emirates
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KLM
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Cathay Pacific
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SWISS
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Qatar Airways
Alice explains: “Emirates has a great range of nutritional choices on its long-haul menu. For example, for lunch it offers grilled chicken with bean and corn salsa, sweet potato mash and broccoli. This is a perfectly balanced meal of protein, carbohydrates and fibre, as well as packing in some of your five-a-day. This is especially good since many other airlines don’t offer much at all in the way of fibre or real fruit and vegetables!
“KLM is also one of the best airlines for veggies. Their vegetarian meal includes a beetroot and goats cheese salad (vegetables and protein), vegetable biryani with grilled vegetables, tahini and extra virgin olive oil (carbs, vegetables and healthy fats) and a kombucha, which is a fermented tea drink with amazing benefits for gut health. This is a perfectly balanced vegetarian meal that covers all food groups, whilst also being interesting and full of flavour!”
The top five short-haul airlines with the most nutritious selection of inflight food options:
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British Airways
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Vueling
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Air Malta
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Jet2
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Easyjet
Alice explains: “These five airlines have the most varied menus, providing a range of different snacks and meal choices for their passengers. For example, British Airways provides options for snacks such as protein bars, couscous, dried fruits and olives. Drink choices include drinks such as ginger shots and apple cider vinegar. As it’s less common to have meals on a short-haul flight, a range of snacks, suitable for all diets, is important and this is why British Airways ranks highly.”
