Emirates introduces meal pre-ordering...

Move comes after United Airlines plane was diverted to remove a passenger angered by unavailable meal choice

Days after a United Airline passenger was removed from a transatlantic flight after he became unruly, complaining that his first meal choice was unavailable, Emirates has announced a solution.

The Dubai-based airline is launching a meal preordering, where customers will be able to preselect a hot main meal between 14 days and 24 hours in advance of their flight.

Emirates' new service will helping to reduce food wastage, and also ensure that passengers receive their preferred meal choice every time.

The United Airlines passenger, who was seated in business class, allegedly became angry when he couldn’t have the meal that he wanted. Flight UA20 from Houston to Amsterdam was forced to make an unscheduled stop in Chicago on 9 July 2023 to remove the man from the plane. Fellow passengers recorded footage of the outburst directed at cabin crew and the video went viral.

Emirates' initiative will be rolled out from 25 July 2023 onwards in Business Class, on all flights between Dubai and London Heathrow, London Gatwick, and London Stansted, adding more benefits to the Emirates customer experience and adding another layer of insight into meal consumption onboard.

GET YOUR FREE TRAVEL & TOURISM INSIGHT REPORT PRODUCED IN ASSOCIATION WITH DELOITTE

Meal pre-ordering will be added to the existing suite of AI-enabled customer preference tracking data and cabin crew reports, which facilitate menu planning and optimal food loading to deliver a premium ‘restaurant in the sky’ experience.

On the aircraft, cabin crew will use a custom-built application on a device to view the meal selection and serve the passenger their choice of hot dish.

Emirates plans to expand the meal pre-ordering initiative to more routes and classes in the near future and is closely monitoring customer feedback.

For more information, visit www.emirates.com