Virgin Australia announces major change to menus, with one key mid-flight change

The new meals and snacks come hot on the heels of a recent Qantas announcement, but Virgin Australia has gone one step further and solved an annoying mid-flight food problem.

Virgin Australia is racing to catch up with Qantas for dining in the sky, unveiling an all-new business class menu and refreshed economy class menu for international and domestic flights.

Business class now includes modern dishes inspired by Japanese, Indian, Mexican, Italian and western cuisine as well as more vegetarian options and some vegan and low-gluten dishes.

The airline has also made a $300 million investment that includes digital wallets, allowing customers to purchase items via Apple Pay and Google Pay mid-flight for the first time.

“Food is really important, these days a lot of people have specific dietary requirements and all airlines need to be as inclusive as possible to cater to diverse passengers,” said Adele Eliseo, an Adelaide-based points expert and publisher of The Champagne Mile.

Points expert Adele Eliseo says in-flight menus can influence bookings. Source: Supplied

Ms Eliseo said food is a motivator for passengers parting with precious points.

It’s a fiercely competitive space, especially for international business-class flights when competition includes fresh hot chips whipped by the likes of Etihad’s in-flight chefs.

Other best-in-class operators include Singapore Airlines, which has a ‘Book the Cook’ menu that allows guests to choose from a wide selection of meals via the app, as well as Japan Airlines’ light and fresh authentic bento boxes and Cathay Pacific’s iconic cheese trolleys.

“A lot of thought goes into planning these menus and wanting to balance flavour with dishes that won’t be too heavy or too dry during the flight,” said Ms Eliseo.

“Small things do make a big difference.”

Virgin Australia’s new business class highlights include dishes such as corn fritters with crumbled goat cheese and capsicum relish, soy caramel karaage chicken with rice, pumpkin gnocchi with pesto and optional chorizo and hummus with marinated artichoke and pitta.

Virgin Australia’s new menu includes more vegetarian options. Picture: Supplied

Travellers can now pay for food via smartphone wallets. Picture: Supplied

Meanwhile, economy class will serve heartier options such as ham and cheese sourdough toasties, chicken and sun-dried tomato pesto wraps, or on longer routes, Penang curry.

Cheese and crackers aren’t going anywhere – the airline revealed the simple savoury snack is its most popular onboard option, with more than 50,000 packets served every month.

The changes come hot on the heels of Qantas’s new domestic economy menu, announced in May, which also offers heartier items on longer flights in response to customer feedback.

Passengers on flights longer than two hours should look out for new sausage rolls, scrambled egg brioche and chicken ciabatta sandwiches, supplied by Australian producers.

It too serves cheese and crackers on shorter flights, alongside sweet slices.

Originally published as Virgin Australia announces major change to menus, with one key mid-flight change