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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.

  • Andrew says:
    22 Oct22 October 08:14

    I generally prefer to eat in the lounge before the flight.

    • Kowalski says:
      22 Oct22 October 09:30

      I rarely get to an airport early enough to do that. I find the vast majority of airport lounges to be horrible places!

  • Alison says:
    22 Oct22 October 08:18

    “Can’t wait to cosy down…’ what sort of butchered insta language is this, to be presented to a premium client ?

    • Alex G says:
      22 Oct22 October 09:00

      @Alison. Did you see the “Brunch” menu?

      “Celebrate your brunch in typical British style with a cheeky Buck’s Fizz or Bloody Mary on the side.”

      If the food doesn’t make you vomit, the menu certainly will.

      • Alison says:
        22 Oct22 October 09:10

        Arrgggh! Copywriting for toddlers! But the chances of getting that bloody Mary or bucks fizz before the end of service are zilch.

  • MC says:
    22 Oct22 October 08:22

    I loved the to fly to starve ! Catchy slogan..
    Who is running BA now? They are making tons of money with IB and Vueling why cut in business class.. the airline industry is a horrible business to be in.

    • JDB says:
      22 Oct22 October 08:33

      It’s a horrible business to be in and a horrible business to be in, hence BA cutting costs.

  • Greg says:
    22 Oct22 October 08:23

    BA Mauritius flight departs at 19.30 so not sure how they are trialling it on that route

  • John G says:
    22 Oct22 October 08:23

    Assuming they are not changing economy catering it seems you could actually get more food in the back!

  • Diana says:
    22 Oct22 October 08:25

    That’s brilliant news! Well done BA. People are so greedy and eat too much anyway. They have snacks anyway and cooked breakfast. Use the club lounge before hand. Honestly, truly a 1st world problem.

    • Adam says:
      22 Oct22 October 08:49

      And if no BA lounge? Maybe 1st world problem, but the thousands of revenue that might go elsewhere is also 1st world to BA I guess?

    • BA Flyer IHG Stayer says:
      22 Oct22 October 09:01

      Wow you’re a charmer aren’t you Diane? So everyone who flies club is greedy and fat!

      Not everyone can use the lounge because of the time of their arrival at the airport or because of the connection they are on so no time to visit let alone eat.

      Snacks on board – chocolate and crisps – only if there are any left.

    • AndyW says:
      22 Oct22 October 09:08

      Of course it’s a first world problem, everything related to business class flying generally is, but it’s about getting a service commensurate to the fare paid. Spend a couple of thousand (minimum) on a business class route and I think it’s fair that the customer makes the decision whether they want a full meal or not. Just because something is expensive doesn’t mean companies have an excuse to provide poor product and service. I probably only pay one business class fare per year, and I’m not that bothered by the food frankly, but I don’t want brunch at 12.30 after eating breakfast, and if I haven’t been able to eat beforehand I want a proper meal on a 10 hour flight. Very strange decisions that I can’t see can save that much money, but have the potential to drive people away to other carriers.

    • HampshireHog says:
      22 Oct22 October 12:24

      A troll I’d assume

  • Karen says:
    22 Oct22 October 08:25

    It always surprises me when people flying to Oz on a night flight want to sleep on the first leg when it’s daytime over there – some of us want to take jet lag advice and stay awake to start to acclimatise. All other long haul flights give the choice of constant food/snacks those who don’t want to sleep. BA are definitely the worst airline! Unfortunately we fly once a year to Melbourne to visit family and use our companion voucher which saves literally thousands of pounds so we have no choice. Also they now only fly to Sydney so we have this extra bother of getting a separate flight onwards – but we still save a lot of money. They are definitely the worst 🤬

    • Mikeact says:
      22 Oct22 October 09:11

      But you’re happy to save 1000’s…What’s worse, f&b offerings, or having to pay for two?

    • Novelty-Socks says:
      22 Oct22 October 10:10

      There’s always a choice. You can choose to not go. You can choose a cheaper fare in a lower class of travel or via a convoluted route. BA know this probably isn’t enough to make you switch.

      • LittleNick says:
        22 Oct22 October 12:47

        Exactly, a lot of us including myself are so locked into the Avios ecosystem we’re mostly stuck with BA, particularly to use the upgrade/companion vouchers. But if not using a voucher I’d rather fly other airlines cash and avios going forwards I think

    • HampshireHog says:
      22 Oct22 October 12:26

      Try QR

    • Londonsteve says:
      22 Oct22 October 14:47

      I’m not sure you are saving lots of money when you factor in how much more Avios BA wants to fly to Oz compared to using Qatar, moreover you could fly to Melbourne directly from Doha. I wouldn’t dream of using BA to fly to Australia, even if I had a 241 voucher to hand.

  • Steve says:
    22 Oct22 October 08:27

    Another fun and appetising day of comments about the changing menus to look forward too!

    Deep joy….

    • AJA says:
      22 Oct22 October 09:25

      Well at least the comments are apparently appetising as the menu and food certainly isn’t. Will BA drop giving out menu cards as well? They might as well as there is no choice.

      • ALISON says:
        22 Oct22 October 16:10

        I flew ATH – LHR a few Fridays ago on the 20:55 flight out. I was in row 6 and at least two thirds of the entire plane was given over to J class seat bookings. The crew didn’t bother giving out menu cards, probably because they knew they didn’t have enough of the only edible dish loaded. The most coveted dish turned out to be shepherd’s pie (just how you imagine it would look in economy, oblong dish complete with foil lid.) The next popular dish was mushroom pasta. But by the time the crew had got to the row 7 behind me the only option left was a chicken salad. That was it. So 14 people got a decent meal but for another 20 plus people Friday night dinner on a 4 hour flight in Club Europe was absolute rubbish.

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