Economy class passengers on European flights with British Airways are in for a treat from 20 January 2021. The UK airline is introducing the Speedbird Café, a buy before you fly pre-order service with meals by Michelin-starred chef, Tom Kerridge.

The current complimentary offering of water and a snack will also be staying. This is in contrast to other full service airlines who are removing free food for economy class within Europe.

Buy Before You Fly

There will be five new meal options on the menu. Standard options are a Warm Steak & Ale Pie (£4.50), a Ham Hock & Smoked Cheddar Sandwich (£4.10), and a Chicken, Bacon and Celery Brioche (£4.50).

Vegetarians are not left out, with a Soft Brie and Apple Chutney Ploughman’s Sandwich (£4.20). Happily, Vegan’s are also catered for, with a Spiced Cauliflower and Chickpea Wrap (£4.20). There’s a short video with the chef below.

In addition to the food, you can also wet your whistle with beer (BrewDog Jetstream IPA and Heineken), wine (a Spanish Merlot and a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc), and soft drinks. There is also Pip Organic juice, Dash Water and Harrogate Still and Sparkling water.

You need to pre-order more than 12 hours before departure. There will be no way to purchase anything on the flight, it is pre-order this food or you will have to make do with the complimentary snack offering.

Overall Thoughts

The new Speedbird Café buy before you fly concept looks like a win for everyone. From an environmental perspective it will mean much reduced food waste as what is stocked is what will be delivered on board. Also, there will be less weight on the plane carrying food that may not be purchased. This in turn saves fuel.

For cabin crew, it means no more having to take time with payments and should result in a faster on board service. The changes commence from 20 January 2021 and I for one look forward to trying to new meal offering at some point. From the same date, Club Europe business class service provided by Do&Co will also return to normal. Great news for oneworld frequent flyers!

What do you think of the changes to the British Airways Euro Traveller food? Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.

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Featured image via British Airways.