Airline guide: food and drink

Our guide to in-flight food and drink reveals which airlines offer the best value meals and refreshments, and which cater for passengers with special dietary requirements. 

Ryanair charges more for in-flight food and drink than any other major British or Irish airline, according to new research.

Food and drinks on Ryanair have an average mark-up of 520 per cent compared with supermarket prices, while the mark-up on a cup of tea is 21,040 per cent, according to data compiled by Travelsupermarket.com as part of a study into the prices of in-flight food and drinks on 22 international airlines.

Ryanair charges £2.63 for a cup of tea or a bottle of mineral water, £3.16 for a cup-a-soup, and up to £4.91 for a sandwich – significantly more than any of its low-cost rivals.

Bmibaby, the no-frills subsidiary of Bmi, charges the second highest prices, with its products carrying an average mark up of 468 per cent, followed by Jet2 (438 per cent) and easyJet (430 per cent).

A spokesman for Ryanair said food was entirely avoidable on board its aircraft.

“Ryanair is Europe’s largest low fares airline offering Europe’s guaranteed lowest fares, not a discount food retailer,” he said. “We challenge Tesco, Sainsburys or Waitrose to carry a family of four from the UK to the Canary Islands for less than Ryanair.” Full service carriers

British Airways - free drinks and limited snacks on all short haul flights (before 10am there is a breakfast sandwich). On long haul you will generally receive one full meal and one snack per flight (varies by length of flight) plus free drinks.

Virgin Atlantic - on long haul you will generally receive one full meal and one snack per flight (varies by length of flight) plus free drinks.

Lufthansa/KLM/Air France - free drink and snack on short haul (usually a filled croissant, small sandwich or a one course meal). On long haul you will generally receive one full meal and one snack per flight (varies by length of flight) plus free drinks.

Aer Lingus - paid for service on short haul; on flights to the US you will generally receive one full meal and one snack per flight (varies by length of flight) plus free drinks.

Emirates - on long haul you will generally receive one full meal and one snack per flight (varies by length of flight) plus free drinks.

Source telegraph

Posted in: Airline guide