Emirates Launches Meal Pre-Booking Service on Dubai-London Flights

On flights between Dubai and London, Emirates has unveiled a new meal pre-booking service that will allow business class travellers to choose onboard meals up to 14 days in advance. This will enhance the traveller experience and increase the airline’s efficiency and sustainability.

Beginning on July 25, the Middle Eastern airline will provide the new service on all of its flights between Dubai and Heathrow (LHR), Gatwick (LGW), and Stansted (STN). From 14 days up to 24 hours before departures, business class guests will be able to browse and make reservations from the onboard menu via the Emirates app or website.

Emirates stated, “Emirates is taking the first steps in an innovative initiative of meal preordering, whereby customers will be able to preselect their hot main meal between 14 days and 24 hours in advance of their flight, ensuring they get their preferred meal choice every time, as well as helping to reduce food wastage.”

Passengers have the option to order any special meals in addition to a variety of hot main dishes. In order to speed up the process for everyone involved, cabin crew can access each passenger’s meal preferences on a digital device during the flight. This also prevents passengers from being dissatisfied if their main meal choice isn’t available, like a United Airlines passenger who forced a diversion after becoming irrational over a missed meal choice.

The airline has said it will actively monitor consumer comments to help it fine-tune the system, and the flights between Dubai and London will essentially serve as a trial phase for the effort. Emirates eventually intends to expand the pre-ordering service to more of its routes and, more significantly, cabin classes, indicating that customers in the economy class may someday be able to use this service as well.

In recent years, the company has embraced integrating technology into the passenger experience. A few of its efforts let travellers sync the ICE in-flight entertainment (IFE) app to their devices, browse digital food menus before flights, and manage their schedule and boarding cards digitally. The airline said last year that it would devote $2 billion to improving the traveller experience, including a programme to convert 120 aircraft with premium economy seating and a variety of menu improvements.

Airlines can load their aircraft appropriately when passengers can indicate the meals they want, resulting in less food being wasted at the conclusion of the journey. In a sector that is working to reduce its carbon footprint and implement sustainability measures, this is becoming more and more crucial.

Similar approaches are being used by other airlines all around the world in an effort to reduce food waste and boost operational effectiveness. While Virgin Atlantic and Lufthansa also introduced comparable pre-ordering menus in the last year, ANA expanded its international in-flight pre-ordering choices earlier this year, allowing customers to completely decline food service.