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British Airways cuts Club World meal service for departures after 9pm

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Yesterday we covered the bizarre new breakfast / brunch service that British Airways is serving for lunch on long haul flights departing up to 11.29am.

It pairs a cooked breakfast with wine, a cheeseboard, coffee and liqueurs. Those who have tried it are finding it as odd as it sounds.

On the upside, you are at least still getting a three course meal of sorts. This is no longer the case for Club World departures after 9pm.

BA cuts Club World meal service for departures after 9pm

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I mention this because, about 20 years ago, British Airways launched something called ‘Sleeper Service’. It stripped down the Club World business class food service to the bare minimum, on the grounds that most people wanted to sleep on overnight flights and those who didn’t could starve. It was a failure, launching the catchphrase ‘To Fly, To Starve’ and was abandoned. This is despite the fact that it only operated from airports where BA had pre-flight lounge dining.

Multiple rounds of staff departures at British Airways later, everyone who remembers the failure of ‘Sleeper Service’ seems to have left and a version of it is back. This time it is on virtually all routes, irrespective of whether the lounge offers a full meal.

What is now served on Club World departures after 9pm?

The menu has been pared back sharply:

  • appetisers have been scrapped
  • main courses and desserts are massively simplified

Here is an example menu currently in use:

Main courses

  • Butternut squash and coconut soup
  • Grilled tiger prawn salad
  • Chicken and leek pie
  • Cheese and crackers

Dessert

  • Panna cotta
  • Fruit salad
  • Chocolate chip cookies

…. and that’s it.

Bizarrely the menu says at the top:

“Take your pick from an assortment of seasonal dishes. If you’re feeling tired and can’t wait to cosy down, then just choose your main and dessert and a night cap of your choice”.

However, you have no option but to have just a main and dessert because that’s all there is! The appetisers are gone.

This new service has been rolled out on virtually all long-haul routes. The only exceptions are 12+ hour flights. It is, apparently, being used on Cape Town and Mauritius which are over 11 hours.

The airline argues that a ‘one tray’ meal service will allow passengers to get to sleep more quickly. The problem is that British Airways ALREADY offered a stripped down ‘one tray’ option on late night Club World flights. Those who wanted to eat and sleep could have the ‘one tray’ meal whilst those who didn’t could – until last week – have the standard full menu.

It isn’t clear what is offered in First Class. I believe that the menu has also been cut back but bears more resemblance to a proper meal.

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Comments (486)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • Gillian W says:
    22 Oct22 October 12:12

    This is just ridiculous. We are flying to Sao Paolo next month from Glasgow and dont have very long in Heathrow to eat in lounge and was relying on food on board for the 11.5 hour flight. Also the fact that 2 of the MAIN options are soup, a starter, or cheese how many actual mains will they have on board? Do i need to acquire a good bag from the lounge or is this going to be next step, take aways bags and no in flight food?

    • Numpty says:
      22 Oct22 October 12:24

      might need some tupperware for the lounge and get some chicken curry as takeout (note, there may not be any chicken left in the curry sauce).

      Actually, hope BA arent reading this, it might sound like a good idea to them!

      • Lady London says:
        22 Oct22 October 13:23

        Taking sny food from anywhere onto the flight is a bit fraught, as a lot of foods show u as liquid on the security Xray and will be rejrcted.

        • meta says:
          22 Oct22 October 15:16

          Lounges and restaurants are usually after security.

        • Numpty says:
          22 Oct22 October 15:36

          Once had a ‘debate’ with a colleague who thought all food was banned and would be taken from them at security. After we chatted they decided they would risk taking their Pringles with them on their holibobs, and if they were taken off them i would have to recompense them.

          • Andy says:
            23 Oct23 October 07:45

            So many “know it alls” in airports. Try working in one and / or an airline – then you will begin to learn what is possible, advantageous, plain stupid or unreasonable. It can be a real eye-opener.

    • cc-not-bcc says:
      22 Oct22 October 12:47

      It’s *Paulo*, not Paolo.

    • JDB says:
      22 Oct22 October 17:09

      You can pre-order excellent Fortnum’s picnics for the flight if you are concerned BA won’t feed you enough or the food won’t be good enough. There’s ample good onboard for a 22.20 departure including breakfast prior to arrival.

    • Belsize says:
      22 Oct22 October 17:31

      Last night to GRU there was no chicken pie in club left by row 4!!

      • Gillian W says:
        22 Oct22 October 18:08

        That is terrible. Basically that is the only ‘Main’ course actual option.

  • RMW1 says:
    22 Oct22 October 12:21

    BA might want to “refresh” their marketing for our “comfort” as it’s way out of date.

    https://www.britishairways.com/content/information/food-and-drink

  • Sam says:
    22 Oct22 October 12:29

    Hi Rob, when do these changes come into effect as well as the ‘brunchgate’ – I have a flight from Gatwick in 2 weeks time that is just over 11 hours and departing just before 11am. Thanks

  • Marlon says:
    22 Oct22 October 12:34

    If you consider the amount of money you are paying and for what?
    A comfortable chair. BA are being ridiculous if they think that they can still charge Premium prices for a low cost stink fest then ppl should take their business else where.
    BA cannot have it both ways, either they are a Premium airline or a low cost one.

    • Yaa says:
      22 Oct22 October 16:02

      Thank you…people pay in excess of 4000$ for business class for just the seat. Experienced this snack for a 10.20pm flight and we’d decided we’d eat on the flight. I’m done KLM here I come.

  • Joan says:
    22 Oct22 October 12:43

    OMG our flight tomorrow is 11:10 so we will experience the Brunch despite the fact we will probably not be in the air till after 11:29 👎

  • NMac says:
    22 Oct22 October 13:08

    I used to pay extra to fly BA, now l pay extra not to. It’s now just long haul Ryanair.

    • Mikeact says:
      22 Oct22 October 16:22

      Long haul Ryanair….you mean their 4.5 hrs to Tenerife ?…You’ve obviously never travelled long haul.

      • Guernsey Globetrotter says:
        22 Oct22 October 16:57

        @Mikeact what @NMac is saying is that BA is becoming the long haul version of Ryanair with all these cuts to previously included services. I know this may be painful for you to recognise, particularly after laughing at all the VS points collectors last week, but BA is not always the shining paragon of airline virtue that you seem to think it is!

        • Mikeact says:
          22 Oct22 October 21:10

          @GG
          ‘BA is not always the shining paragon of airline virtue that you seem to think it is!’
          Show me where I have ever ,or intimated that. I have one complaint in their backlog at present. Perfect they are not, but I have to accept that the good old days are over.

    • JDB says:
      22 Oct22 October 17:11

      That’s just so absurd, BA is nothing like Ryanair and if you are flying on any airline anywhere for fancy good well…

      BA will still feed you a greater amount of food than medically recommended, even after these changes.

      • Occasional Ranter says:
        22 Oct22 October 20:25

        It’s true. BA is nothing like Ryanair…

        • Bervios says:
          23 Oct23 October 08:32

          Exactly. One is reliable and efficient with minimal faffing. The other is BA which continues to dissapoint.

      • louie says:
        22 Oct22 October 22:39

        I’m intrigued to know, what do you find so different? I flew Ryanair earlier this month for the first time for years. Other than the colour of the seats and them offering scratchcards (I think, wasn’t listening), I can’t recall anything of significance (to me) that distinguished them from my previous flight on BA (economy/short haul). Both seats felt equally uncomfortable in terms of the lack of padding, both had similar amounts of legroom, both fed you only if you paid them extra, both charge for baggage. What else?

        • Londonsteve says:
          23 Oct23 October 18:10

          I’m with you, reality for someone in Economy without status is that there’s no difference, other than the usually much higher ticket price. One area of difference in Ryanair’s favour is the excellent timekeeping and the assurance the flight will depart as advertised. A lot of folks here that rate BA above Ryanair are often travelling in Club or as a minimum, use their Silver status to travel towards the front of the cabin where there’s more legroom and often fewer people resulting in empty middle seats. Down the back where the lowly Blues and passengers without status get dumped, I think it’s actually tighter on legroom than Ryanair.

  • OhBA says:
    22 Oct22 October 13:17

    Flew Club from Dubai last week and the only dinner service option was a dry panini accompanied with a bread roll! I took a pic it was so unpalatable. I wasn’t the only passenger to send it back. Apparently “passengers preferred to sleep on this route” when I questioned the absence of the meal service. IMO the lounge wouldn’t be able to accommodate all passengers if they had known they had the eat pre boarding.

    • Lee says:
      22 Oct22 October 13:39

      That is amazing. So it was bread and bread…

    • Can2 says:
      22 Oct22 October 14:43

      I will be on that flight some time soon. I’d better pack some potato sandwiches!

    • TGLoyalty says:
      22 Oct22 October 20:38

      Was this the 1am service? No way should anyone be eating anything but breakfast on that flight!

      The Dubai lounge is being changed to a bigger space

  • Gerry says:
    22 Oct22 October 13:44

    I for one liked the Sleeper Service. But it was limited to a few late departures on two (JFK, BOS) very business-heavy routes where a lot of travelers really wanted to maximize sleep on a short eastbound flight.

    That’s very different to cutting dinner on all routes…

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