Brussels Airlines is shifting up another gear in its catering offering, reemphasising on its positioning as Belgium’s home carrier. As of the month of June, Business Class passengers on short- and medium-haul flights will be presented with a renewed menu which will be different every week. The airline remains committed to products and dishes with a Belgian culinary touch. In addition, reusable porcelain and steel cutlery are making their comeback. Not only does the porcelain provide a pleasant experience, it’s also more environmentally friendly.
Increasing numbers of travellers from Belgium and abroad are looking for even more comfort. This is also reflected in Brussels Airlines’ reservations. In April 2023, the number of sold seats in Business Class even doubled, compared to the same period in 2019 (pre-COVID).
Listening to its customers, the Brussels Airlines inflight catering product team developed a new concept for Business Class catering on short- and medium-haul flights focusing on fresh food with more variation and products made in Belgium.
“From now on, our short- and medium-haul Business Class passengers will be presented with an improved qualitative menu, offering them more variety and providing them with an even more enjoyable in-flight experience when travelling on board of our flights. In addition, we increase our focus on fresh products with a Belgian culinary touch. Belgium being known for its high-quality cuisine, it’s important for us to share the Belgian culinary know-how with our international guests.”
– Xandra Quak, Inflight Product Manager, Brussels Airlines
As of June, the breakfast menu on flights below 80 minutes offers a fresh sandwich accompanied by a pain au chocolat or a croissant and fresh fruit. For early snackers, the classic fruit and cheese brochette gives way to Belgian tapas, with a finger food-sized sandwich or quiche, accompanied by a fresh salad and petit fours made with Belgian speculoos, cuberdon or chocolate. On flights above 80 minutes, passengers will be presented with a fresh seasonal salad, along with a dessert of macarons or Neuhaus chocolates. On flights over 2.5 hours, passengers can enjoy a hot meal with a dessert and fresh cheese. The meals will vary from week to week, providing the loyal frequent flyers with a variation on their travels.
Reusable porcelain and cutlery
With the new dishes comes a new way of presenting them. Brussels Airlines is reintroducing porcelain as well as steel cutlery in Business Class.
“Providing our passengers with porcelain dishes will elevate the presentation of the food and brings a more environmentally friendly solution. Reducing to a maximum extent the use of plastic remains a clear focus for us. As such, little yoghurt pots will disappear from the tray. Guests are presented with fresh yoghurt in a porcelain bowl instead. We continuously work on reducing waste to further improve our ecological footprint.”
– Sandy Coenen, Inflight Product Manager, Brussels Airlines
In addition to the Business Class catering improvements, the Special Meal offer will also be enhanced as of 1 June. The inflight catering team has worked on aligning these meals to the new Business Class concept, ensuring that guests with a specific diet (such as gluten-free) will also have the opportunity to enjoy a tasty meal with a Belgian touch.
That was about time, the current offering in Business Class is one of the worst I have ever seen on any airline.
Breakfast on short flights has often been a plastic wrapped muffin served from a card board box. Lunch or dinner was regularly a salad bowl from Food Maker, exactly the same you can purchase at Delhaize for around 5 Euro. Often even just the vegan one, even if no special dietary requirements had been ordered. The cutlery was cheap bambus single-use knifes and forks. This is far below what was not long ago a bad service level in monkey class.
The only advantage left was a free middle seat and the (hand) luggage allowance. Unlike the other Lufthans Group airlines there is no cabin separation, which means queues at the toilet on Biz as there is no division. No WIFI on board that would allow you to do some work either. For Senators who get an extra luggage item anyway simply not worth paying often double the price.
For the last year or so I have avoided booking Biz because I felt insulted by the offering. The only thing Biz about Brussels Airlines were the prices. About time to correct this to make the product relevant, otherwise one might as well just fly economy, which Ryanair is even doing better on several counts these days.
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