BEST OF THE MIDDLE EAST
LUXUR Y INCLUDED M
The Middle East is a region renowned for hospitality, where an empty plate is an invitation to refill and entering a home means a guaranteed coffee. But how are Middle Eastern carriers leading the way? Asks Laura Gelder
iddle Eastern airlines make their own trends compared to other
world airlines, says Ahmed Janahi, acting chief commercial officer at Gulf Air. “We have been placing extreme importance on inflight catering for the last five years when other world airlines haven’t,” he says. “A typical example is that many airlines have removed catering for flights of less than two hours, whilst the Middle Eastern carriers provide meals for flights which run for less than an hour. Gulf Air serves food to its guests on flights of less than 25 minutes!” On Gulf Air, the service starts in a classically Arabic way, offering its guests Arabic coffee and, to its premium class Falcon Gold Customers, dates. On the other hand, Dubai- based Emirates Airways’ presents its eclectic range of dishes on Royal Doulton fine bone china with Robert Welch cutlery, alongside fine wines and extras such as high tea and hors d’oeuvres in its onboard lounges – not exactly classically Arabic. Madhav Kanchan of Dubai-based
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Nutty Nuts explains why it’s hard for Middle Eastern carriers to value authentic Middle Eastern produce: “I believe you should be proud of your culture & heritage and show it off to the rest of the world,” he says. “However, it’s not always possible for Middle Eastern carriers to use 100% authentic produce because the majority of the fruits and vegetables are imported into GCC countries. But I don’t think that stops us from serving authentic Arabic food.” Christian Bris, vice president of Qatar
Airways’ Inflight Services, explains that Qatar mixes its traditional Arabic dishes with western dishes to keep its offering fresh and appealing to all customers. Our onboard menus are designed considering both passenger profile and availability of quality product,” says Bris.“ Onboard Qatar Airways flights, passengers will have an Arabic meal or western dish option in all classes. As a Middle Eastern airline, we want to
offer Arabic meal options amongst a good choice of Western and local destination specialities. Qatar Airways’ First and Business class guests enjoy a hot or cold Arabic mezze and an Arabic main dish such as herb-crusted Hammour fish. Whilst Economy passengers choose from three options (Arabic, Western and one from the local destination). Oman Air also strives to use local cuisine and its onboard team works closely with chefs on the network to ensure that each Omani menu works in its own right, but also that individual dishes complement those in international menus, enabling passengers to choose dishes from each to create their own meal. An Oman Air spokesperson said: “Fresh, seasonal produce plays an important part in Omani cuisine and with 1,700km of coastline, ingredients like prawns and kingfish are typical, whilst
modern updates on traditional dishes are popular.”
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