Air France offers boxed meals in Short-Haul Business… with a lot of sandwiches

It seems that Air France is going down the line of a “Bento box” experience for its premium short-haul passengers with its new catering offering.

The new menu and concept have been designed in collaboration with Servair Corporate Chef François Adamski, Bocuse d’Or and Meilleur Ouvrier de France.

It has replaced the previous catering concept and went live on the 1st of February.

The airline is offering a menu that changes throughout the day. On flights leaving before 10 am, breakfast is served, consisting of sandwiches with adapted fillings such as smoked salmon and cream cheese with dill on white bread, accompanied by a breakfast pastry.

After 10 am, customers can enjoy new, unique and gourmet ‘signature’ sandwiches prepared by the chef, such as smoked paprika chicken and tarragon vegetables on granary bread, as well as typically French sweets and desserts such as a calisson, a cannelé or a tropézienne.

According to the airline, François Adamski has created sandwiches which are easy to eat on these short flights, selecting local and seasonal produce, meat, poultry and dairy products of French origin, PDO cheeses and fish from sustainable fisheries, in line with the company’s standards, thus dispensing the need for a tray, plates and cutlery for a box for those in business class

The menu is updated every month so that passenger’s taste buds don’t get bored.

The airline is accompanying this with a wine and champagne list (with the contents now served in a glass), as well as a range of hot and cold drinks.

Waste is sorted onboard the aircraft, with the boxes broken down for recycling and energy generation purposes.

Depending on the segment length, this isn’t bad.

There are some flights I’ve been on where I wonder “What is the point of a full tray service?” when it is just over an hour in the air, and most of that time is spent either looking out for the window or waiting for the catered item to appear (and in some cases, wolfing the food down during decent).

For short-haul segments, this would allow for quick distribution of menu items, as well as any drinks service, allowing passengers time to consume the products without being rushed,

Again – it will be down to segment length. Flights up to 1 and a half hours would suit this concept well. Over that… and you might wish to dine in the lounge first…

All Images – Air France. 

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