Virgin Australia announces mammoth overhaul to in-flight dining
They’ve called it the biggest menu change in five years. And if you’re at the pointy end, you are in for a real treat.
Virgin Australia has announced one of the biggest menu updates to date, with the airline rolling out a string of new dishes just in time for winter.
On Tuesday, the airline unveiled new offerings across all cabin classes — including a revised Business Class menu and 12 additions to the airline’s Economy buy on-board menu, marking one of the biggest investments in its menu offering in five years.
Some of the highlights within Business Class include: corn fritters with goat cheese and capsicum relish; cheese and chive crumpets with bacon, scrambled eggs and beans; pumpkin gnocchi, creamy pesto with optional chorizo, soba noodle salad with chicken and teriyaki dressing as well as mango coconut cake and a white chocolate and macadamia cake for the sweet tooth.
In economy, alongside the airline’s complimentary service of tea, coffee and water — guests can now purchase an extended range of snacks and meals on board.
The airline has revamped their most popular snack – crackers and cheese – by rolling out artisan mature-aged cheese and crackers, with Virgin Australia revealing that more than 50,000 packets of the snack are sold each month
More substantial items available for purchase include ham and cheese sourdough toasties, chicken and sun-dried tomato pesto wraps, and chicken salad sourdough sandwiches.
Economy Class customers on longer routes to and from Perth or on select international flights will also be able to indulge in hot dishes, including pesto pasta and Penang chicken curry, curated by The St. Food Co.
Virgin Australia Chief Customer and Digital Officer, Paul Jones, said the changes are to provide more choice on board for flyers.
“We are proud to continue evolving our food and beverage offering and today’s announcement represents one of the biggest investments in our on-board menu in the last five years, which is a testament to our focus on making the Virgin Australia travel journey wonderful,” said Mr Jones.
“We have also made it easier than ever for guests to pay for their in-flight food and beverage when seated in Economy thanks to the introduction of digital wallets and Apple Pay which aligns to the world’s changing banking needs and our customer’s preference to pay using smart phone technology.
“Today’s announcement follows recent customer experience investments, including the rollout of our industry-first baggage tracking technology, a $110 million fleet-wide upgrade and more.”
The annoucnement comes just weeks after rival airline Qantas announced a change to its in-flight economy menu, ditching its lighter snack option to make way for more hot foods.
In May, the airline revealed it will now have gourmet brekkie burgers to Mediterranean pizza and cauliflower bites after updating its menu on domestic flights of more than two hours.
The new menu items will be rolled out over the coming weeks and will feature premium local ingredients from Aussie producers.
Other items include Yummy Karma scrambled egg brioche with tomato relish, Handmade Food Co. ciabatta roll with Portuguese chicken and mango lime jam, Sunny Queen carrot and pumpkin fritters and Simmone Logue artisanal beef sausage rolls.
However, it means popular lighter snacks such as cheese and crackers and sweet slices will no longer be served as they will be replaced with the hot selection.
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