How foreign airlines are catering to Indian passengers
With passenger numbers from India increasing, international airlines are now indianising their culinary offerings
As more Indians take to the skies, for work or on holiday, airlines are now o ering a range of menus that connect the subcontinent with international nance centres and global aviation hubs. Singapore Airlines, which operates ights from six cities in India, has rolled out its ‘Book the Cook’ o ering for those ying between Mumbai or Delhi and the island nation in all classes except economy.
e ‘Book the Cook’ feature o ers 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 o ers curated meals like the Shahi ali for suites and
rst class and the Ruchi ali for business class that o er a mix of rice, roti, chutneys and entrées. Other chefs on the panel include Alfred Portale (of the Michelinstarred 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 yers want a complete Indian meal, and not an adulterated kind of menu. So, we have invested in creating authentic Indian dishes on our ight.” While those ying out of India bene t from caterers in major Indian cities that are familiar with local fare, Lim stresses that even for ights originating out of Singapore, guests can pre-order Indian meals online which will then be loaded onto their ight.
While ‘Manage My Booking’ allows a certain degree of customisation, when it comes to taking ights and ensuring a meal
that is preferred, airlines of all stripes have been working on their Indian o erings as they have started ying more frequently to the country. e 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 di erent sectors. For frequent
yers with a certain carrier, their preferences can be learned over time, minimising waste and creating a truly personalised in ight experience. Aaron Miles Claxton, senior vice president, Qatar Airways for catering services says, “It becomes slightly more complex when considering connecting
ights across the network since with joining/transiting passengers connecting through Doha such ights o en have a larger mix of passenger pro les. 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 o erings accordingly.”
Explains Gurpreet Sadyora, in ight chef for Etihad Airways, “e most popular dishes onboard have been tandoori kebabs and Indian chaat items – these dishes have not only been popular among Indian guests
The 'Book the Cook' feature o ers 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
but have also featured in menus on our ights to Europe.” As airlines work to integrate Indian fare into their regularly rotating menu, expect to see more food options turning up on ights that are popular with Indian travellers. George Ettiyil, senior director sales, Lu hansa 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, Lu hansa is also working with a panel of chefs. e current representative for India is Vinod Saini of e Leela Palace New Delhi, whose dal jamavar is popular onboard.
With Indian fare di ering across regions and states, international airlines have recognised that ights to New Delhi and Bengaluru cannot serve the same fare. So, working with their in-house chefs, airlines are now customising o erings and serving them on sectors that are popular with subcontinental yers. 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 y into or out of, curating one to two dishes speci cally for that city.”
During festivals like Holi and Diwali, Indian passengers travelling on Emirates are o ered specially-designed boxes serving the festival's staple desserts and treats such as Gujiya — a crescent-shaped deep-fried dumpling
e Dubai-based airline is also known for its thoughtful onboard o erings during festivals. Ahmad explains, “During the country’s ‘festival of colours’ – Holi, Indian passengers in all classes are served a speciallydesigned ‘Happy Holi’ box including one of the festival’s staple desserts, ‘Gujiya’ – a crescent-shaped deep-fried dumpling lled with sweetened semolina, mawa, toasted coconut, dried fruits and nuts.” ese 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 o ered to guests. As Moran Birger, acting head of sales for Asia Paci c 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, a er conducting extensive research around holistic food.”
is means that the airline has looked into not just the food being served, but also how it's served explains Birger. Consequently, the ag carrier of the UK has also been experimenting with using ingredients that are high in umami on ights, with tomatoes cited as one such vegetable. Lu hansa, has done some of their own research into how taste buds are a ected on a ight 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.” erefore dishes like chicken tikka masala have to toe that line. ese airlines also monitor social media constantly, to seek out yer feedback thus ensuring that their dishes hit the taste buds, the way their chefs desire.
Onboard cuisine is now seen as a di erentiator and many airlines are branding it as such. Qatar's o erings are grouped under the uisine tag while Hong Kong-based Cathay Paci c is o ering its Indian dishes on long-haul ights. ose travelling in business class or higher on Singapore Airlines can look forward to the signature satays that kick o any meal.
is 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 o erings, we try and keep it as authentic as possible because we have a varied passenger pro le.”
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