British Airways moves to inflight meal boxes

British Airways will launch new inflight meals this week, with pre-packed boxes replacing the minimalist coronavirus-era bag of a wrapped sandwich, a snack and a bottle of water.

Created by BA's catering firm Do & Co for every cabin from first and business class through to economy, these single-serve boxes minimise interaction with the crew, and are expected to be part of BA's inflight experience for at least the next few months.

Here's a sneak preview.

BA's first class box will contain a salad, bread, appetiser, a hot dish (only first class will be served a hot dish) and a trio of desserts.

On long-range daytime flights there'll also be a rather scrumptious-looking afternoon tea box of finger sandwiches, scones with jam, and macarons.

Long-range Club World business class passengers will be offered a box with a salad, sandwich, cheese and crackers, and dessert – which honestly doesn't seem very filling, so apart from raiding the inflight snack bar, you may want to bring some of your own food (if you're flying out of London Heathrow T5, we recommend the Pret a Manger outlet at the centre of the terminal).

On overnight flights, Club World travellers will wake to a cold breakfast with yogurt, granola, a muffin and a few other items.

Shorter Club Europe business class flights will see a cold snack which on daytime flights will typically include a sandwich, a small appetiser and a small dessert.

Long-range premium economy (World Traveller Plus) and economy (World Traveller) boxes will be the same and usually include a small sandwich or croissant, an appetiser and dessert.

However, with the UK now enforcing a mandatory 14-day quarantine and many of BA's most popular routes slashed or suspended, it remains to be seen how many of these meal boxes it'll be handing out on any flight.

David Flynn

David Flynn is the Editor-in-Chief of Executive Traveller and a bit of a travel tragic with a weakness for good coffee, shopping and lychee martinis.