Travelore News: Heathrow Launches World’s first ‘On-Board Picnic’ Service

A sample on-board hamper from Gordon Ramsay's Plane Food restaurant at Heathrow

Passengers can take hampers prepared by Heathrow restaurants on flights, including pizzas and meals by Heston Blumenthal and Gordon Ramsay

Heathrow Airport is offering passengers an “on-board picnic” dining option where they can bring a “bespoke hamper” with them on their flight. The service is available from today at all of Heathrow's 118 restaurants across its five terminals. The 49 brands involved range from chain cafés, such as Pret a Manger and EAT, to restaurants including Heston Blumenthal’s The Perfectionist Café and Gordon Ramsay’s Plane Food, as well as Caviar House and The Gorgeous Kitchen.

^{A sample on-board picnic offering from Caviar House}

The hampers vary in price and size according to venue, but typically cost between £5 and £50 and are around 40 x 20 x 10cm. All are collapsible and designed to be easily stowed away under the seat or in the overhead locker. Some hampers are insulated bags designed to “ensure the food retains maximum taste and freshness at 35,000 feet”, keeping hot food warm and cold food cool, such as the ones from Caviar House which features an ice compartment. Passengers who return their insulated bags to Caviar House are offered a 15 per cent discount on their next on-board picnic purchase.

Hampers can be tailormade to meet any dietary requirements upon request at each of the restaurants and can be ready-to-go or prepared in about 15 minutes, depending on the type of meal selected. The Perfectionists’ Café is said to offer pizzas to go in about a minute.

Travelers can sample the offerings of the on-board picnics available in Terminal 2 at a pop-up “park” which launches at the terminal today to mark the new service

The park space, set up in collaboration with the Royal Parks Foundation, features the “scents of freshly cut grass and plants, the sounds of birds chirping” and sunlight-type lighting as well as a park bench, a lamp post and even street signs to help create a urban park-like feel.

Passenger can access the "park" and the food samples from today between 7am-8am, 12pm-1pm and 7pm-8pm every day until September 24.

^{The "park pod" at Heathrow Terminal 2}

British Airways (BA) said it welcomes the new picnic service, and doesn't envisage it affecting cabin space usage or creating too much extra rubbish to be cleared from passengers who bring a hamper on board.

"If customers wish to bring their own food on board, they are very welcome to," said a spokesperson for BA.

Starting at £5, the new picnics might even be a more affordable in-flight dining option for travellers when compared to budget airline food prices.

Passengers on an easyJet flight can expect to pay around £6.20 for a meal that includes a sandwich, a snack and a soft drink, or £6.90 when ordered with either a hot drink or soup instead.

Ryanair's in-flight food prices range from around £3.57 (€4.50) for a sandwich and between £1.19-£4.76 (€1.50-€6) for snacks, to £1.59-£2.78 (€2-€3.50) for a soft or hot drink.

Last year, airlines were found to charge up to 2,600 per cent more than supermarkets for in-flight food and drink, according to research byTravelsupermarket.com.

Budget carriers such as easyJet and Ryanair were singled out for applying the biggest mark-ups while the biggest price increases were found on hot drinks

Contributed by Soo Kim,www.telegraph.co.uk/

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Who Has The Best Airline Food?

Photo courtesy of Air France

Contributed by Katie Kelly Bell

Airlines are lining up the experts to add some polish to the in-flight experience and it’s a welcome improvement.The skies have become an interesting new frontier in dining as the captive audience on an airplane is a great stage to show off national talent. Delta Airlineshas been working with James Beard award winning chef Michelle Bernstein and Master Sommelier Andrea Robinson to impress fliers. For the Olympic Games British Airways enlisted the culinary genius of Heston Blumenthal to create a special in-flight menu. Of course there is always a density of culinary talent in France and Air France does dish up some of the best food at 30,000 feet.

There are many travelers who might well disagree, citing their own lavish (or awful) airline experiences on other airlines. The current online buzz is about the dining on Turkish Airlines, Air New Zealand and Singapore Airlines. Indeed, airline food is such a hot topic, there’s even a website that posts meal ratings and images. Of course I haven’t flown every airline out there, and I can’t speak to every airline’s cuisine, but I’ve logged my share of miles and when I take my seat on Air France I am always well fed. Let’s start with coach cabin (because that’s where most of the world is flying these days). After the cattle call is complete and we are herded into our seats and cruising at 30,000 feet, a lovely thing happens: elegant French people glide through the cabin with a beverage cart teeming with an assortment of libations including Champagne. Real Champagne, in coach. On a recent trip I helped myself to several glasses, which nicely complimented my smoked salmon and cheese. One has to love an airline that freely pours Champagne.

The business class cabin takes things up a serious notch or two. Before departure you get to pop into their fabulous lounges and sip vintage French wines before departing. On board you’ll enjoy selections (such as a Crozes Hermitage Les Meysonniers or a Grand Cru Classe Bordeaux from the Haut-Medoc) from Olivier Poussier, voted World’s Best Sommelier in 2000. The airline has now enlisted the expertise and inspiration of several famed French chefs who are creating special meals for passengers. My flight featured specially prepared dishes from Michelin rated Chef Joel Robuchon (the most starred chef in the world, 24 total and counting). The entrée was Robuchon’s chicken thigh fricassee with sherry sauce, semolina and vegetables. I might have opted for the Sautéed Chinese noodles of a filet of sea bream or the pan seared beef tenderloin, but Robuchon’s special dish was astonishingly savory and rich (given the palate dulling effects of high altitude). And it’s not just the cuisine, it’s the elegant French touches, fetching boxes of Michel Cluizel’s artisanal chocolates, teas from Fauchon, you get the idea.

cheese plate on Air France business class

Just before landing we are treated to yet another dish: Shredded duck on a silky pillow of mashed potatoes.  Hiding underneath is a flaky, crisp Parmesan crust, a nice foil for the rich texture of the duck. Paired with my glass of Henriot Champagne, the dish’s toe curling tastiness is mostly evidenced by the fork licking going on around me; landing seems almost a shame. They don’t skimp on their lounges either; the premiere lounge in Paris boasts a restaurant by Alain Ducasse, a nice way to savor French dining if you’ve only time for an airport layover.

The premium experiences on other airlines are equally impressive, but when one considers the whole plane, including the herd back in coach, I give the nod to Air France for raising the hospitality bar; everyone on the plane gets a nice meal and some bubbly; to that I can only say: bon voyage and  bon appétit