Global air and travel services provider dnata will cook 18 million meals for its airline partners globally in December.
The most popular global festive meal of traditional roast turkey will be available from mid-December, and popular starter choices include a local prawn cocktail and mixed grain and cranberry salad. Dnata says airline passengers will consume a total of 6.9 tonnes of meat.
The choices on board will vary depending on where the flights take off from, with traditional mince pies, Christmas cakes and festive-themed chocolates being prepared for airlines jetting out of the UK. In Australia, the choice of warm fruit pudding, Christmas pudding cheesecake, or gingerbread-spiced crumble topped mousse are offered.
American carriers will be offering menu items such as pumpkin pie with spiced mascarpone or cream and pumpkin cheesecake and stewed apples.
Robin Padgett, Divisional Senior Vice President for Catering and Retail, dnata said: “An airline’s menus are planned out once per year, and many airlines have cyclical menus to reflect the seasonal changes.
“Festive menus are signed off in November, after they have been developed by our award-winning chefs. Recipes are then created for all our global stations along with loading and plating guides with photographs of each stage, to ensure consistent delivery.
“We also take the special requirements of our airline partners into consideration, with Halal-prepared meat as well as tasty vegetarian alternatives. Special meals account for 45 per cent of total meals provided for our big airline carriers.”
