Food fight escalates for Qantas and Virgin
Virgin Australia will roll out its inflight meal service to additional routes over the next six to months as it stands by its commitment to continue growing competition in the domestic market.
The airline currently offer meals to all passengers on all routes except those travelling on its “saver” fares who only receive a meal when the flight is longer than two hours 45 minutes, according to corporate communications manager Jacqui Abbott. That includes routes to Denpasar, Phuket and,from today, Fiji along with transcontinental domestic services.
Qantas has previously referred to Virgin’s failure to provide all passengers with a meal as a major point of difference between the two carriers.
"Unlike our domestic competitor, Qantas provides meals to all customers – regardless of which cabin they are flying in – so it is vital that we have world-class facilities to cook and prepare these meals," chief executive Alan Joyce said at the launch of Qantas’ $80 million Brisbane catering centre in October.
However, Abbott revealed that the next year will see meal services added to Virgin’s other “slightly longer” domestic routes such as Brisbane-Adelaide, narrowing that gap.
Meanwhile, Virgin’s culinary emphasis is shown by initiatives such as its partnership with celebrity chef Luke Mangan which dates back to 2010, she added. Mangan devises the menu’s for business class and flexi-fare passengers, and has input into the suppliers used to stock the cart for passengers paying for food inflight.
“We are the only airline which from garnishes fresh on board, things like adding fresh coriander, and does a lot of preparation up in air – a lot of other airlines prepare on ground,” Abbott said.
“It’s really been something that Luke Mangan has implemented across the network since he came on board.”
Qantas too has its own celebrity chef credentials with Neil Perry of Rockpool fame having been charged with creating its culinary offerings for the last 15 years. Business passengers enjoy a Perry-designed menu, while those in economy tuck into a meal "influenced" by Perry.
Email the Travel Weekly team at traveldesk@travelweekly.com.au
airlines food inflight dining luke mangan qantas virginLatest News
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