Germany: Airline Launches Restaurant Style Meal Service in Business Class

Airlines and Aviation

Forget flight trolleys and trays! Passengers flying Business Class on Lufthansa‘s long haul flights can now look forward to ordering from a menu and being served directly from the galley – when they want to eat.

Following positive passenger feedback, Lufthansa German Airlines rolls out restaurant style meal service in Business Class on selected long haul flights between Germany and other parts of the world.

When I flew Cathay Pacific Airways from Hong Kong to Vancouver, British Columbia, last year, I decided to basically double my fare so that I could sit in Premium Economy Class.

I was looking forward to more than a more comfortable seat. I was also expecting better food service.

I didn’t eat before getting on the plane because I didn’t want to eat lunch twice. It was a big mistake! Cabin crew served a couple of hundred Economy Class passengers before they got to the 30 or so passengers sitting in my section of the cabin.

Considering the vast difference in the fare, I don’t think it would have hurt them to have served us first. Since there were only a handful of rows, it would not have held things up very long for the masses sitting to the rear.

Airborne Insomnia Syndrome

By the time the flight attendants got to us, which I believe was about 3 hours after take-off, the luckier passengers – those that don’t suffer from A.I. S, a.k.a. Airborne Insomnia Syndrome – were fast asleep.

And they had to be awakened to be asked if they would like to have lunch, which by then was becoming increasingly more like Afternoon Tea.

I, for one, would NOT appreciate being awakened to be asked if I’d like to eat if I had already fallen asleep. Sleeping definitely takes precedence over eating when I’m in an airplane.

Which raises an interesting question … Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to eat when YOU want to eat rather than when the airline wants you to eat?

Needless to say, this could never fly, excuse the pun, in Cattle Class, where cabin crew have upwards of 500 passengers to deal with.

But what about passengers flying in First Class, Business Class, or even Premier Economy Class?

Restaurants in the Sky?

Lufthansa German Airlines is launching a new service on board long-haul flights, which it says will allow flight attendants in Business Class to respond to passenger needs the same way a waiter or waitress would do at a first class restaurant.

After passengers have been welcomed by name and shown to their seats, they take their orders and set the table with ceramic crockery.

“Meals are then served directly from the galley,” the press release says.

“Trays and flight trolleys are replaced by service plates.”

I followed up with the airline to determine if there would be any changes in the types or number of dishes served. I was informed that the menus would be similar to the already existing menu’s offered to the airline’s business class passengers. 

“The actual menu wont be changed, only the way it will be served and [how[ we interact with our passengers on board,” a spokesman for Lufthansa wrote to me. 

Favourable Feedback

The new service was tested on 300 flights in June and July 2015 on the Airbus A380 routes from Germany to New York (JFK) and Miami, Florida, in the United States.

Following favourable feedback from passengers, the new service was rolled out on A380 services to Beijing, China; Houston, Texas; Johannesburg, South Africa; Los Angeles, California; Miami, Florida; New Delhi, India; New York (JFK); San Francisco, California; Shanghai, China; Seoul, Korea; and Singapore on 1 August.

The service will then be introduced on flights with the Boeing 747-400 and 747-8 from Frankfurt on 1 October and the Airbus A340 fleet from Frankfurt and Munich to Asia and the Middle East on 25 October.