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Air India
- IATA/ICAO Code:
- AI/AIC
- Airline Type:
- Full Service Carrier
- Hub(s):
- Delhi Indira Gandhi International Airport
- Year Founded:
- 1946
- Alliance:
- Star Alliance
- CEO:
- Campbell Wilson
- Country:
- India
Airline meals can be a hit or a miss depending upon the carrier you’re flying, the route you’re taking, the timing of your flight, or simply down to luck. While Air India has received its fair share of flak over the years, many still believe that it is capable of serving decent meals on some, if not all, flights.
And now, as part of its larger turnaround strategy, the carrier has introduced a new menu for domestic flights, promising a richer in-flight meal experience.
Delivering on their promise of a better in-flight experience, Air India’s new management has created a new menu for domestic flights, effective October 1st. The airline chose to introduce meal changes during the festive season when passenger traffic is usually high.
Air India has created a new menu for its domestic flights. Photo: Air India
According to the airline, the menu “showcases India’s locally sourced culinary influence” and “incorporates exquisite renditions of regional specialties from the kitchens and streets all around the world to satiate the global palate.”
Sandeep Verma, Head of Inflight Services, Air India, commented,
“…The new menu choices have been curated to ensure that the flyers enjoy a gourmet meal with emphasis on health and well-being. With several festivals approaching, the new menu offers choices that bring together culinary excellence from different parts of the world. We are excited to roll out this new menu on domestic routes, and are hard at work preparing a revamp of the international menu as well.”
What’s on offer?
The airline has put together an assortment of meals, appetizers, and desserts and divided them according to the type of cabin one is traveling in. Air India economy passengers can expect the following options on their next flight:
- Cheese mushroom omelet
- Dry jeera aloo (potato) wedges
- Garlic tossed spinach and corn
- Vegetable biryani
- Malabar chicken curry
- Mixed vegetable poriyal (fried or sautéed vegetables)
The airline has introduced the new menu during the busy festive season. Photo: Air India
Other options include vegetable fried noodles, chili chicken, blueberry vanilla pastry and coffee truffle slice for high-tea. Some of the choices that business class guests have been given include the following:
- Buttery and flaky croissant
- Sugar-free dark chocolate oatmeal muffin
- Cheese and truffle oil scrambled egg with chives
- Mustard cream-coated chicken sausage
- Fish curry
- Chicken Chettinad (a type of South Indian chicken curry)
- Aloo parantha (potato stuffed Indian bread)
- Medu vada and podi idly (lentil fritters and steamed rice cakes covered in spices)
Passengers can expect several Indian, continental and Asian meal options. Photo: Air India
The airline will also serve chicken 65, grilled sliced pesto chicken sandwich, and Mumbai batata vada (fried batter coated potato dumpling fritters) for high tea.
New strategy
These changes don’t come as a surprise, as Air India recently said it wanted to fix basic issues and increase its domestic market share as part of its long-term vision for the company. An enhanced customer experience is on top of the airline’s list of things to do, and introducing a new menu is definitely part of that strategy.
Air India is also busy scaling up its flight frequency and network. Several leased widebody and narrowbody aircraft are scheduled to join its fleet soon, bolstering its existing and new routes to the west and within India.
Hopefully, it all translates into a better market share and satisfied customers.
Are you excited to try out Air India’s new menu? Please let us know in the comment section below.
