KLM replaces free food with paid catering on European flights

KLM will stop handing out its free cheese sandwich on European flights from the end of October, replacing it with a paid menu of rolls and snacks priced between three and seven euros. Those items travel on every flight as standard, but anything larger, such as a salad or a poke bowl, has to be ordered before departure.

Waste is part of the reasoning. A KLM spokesman told De Telegraaf that on some flights, 30% of the free food goes unused and has to be thrown away. Pre-ordering, he said, means fewer meals loaded and fewer thrown out.

Beer to Oslo, chicken to Malaga

The menu was tested on routes to Malaga and Oslo, and the two behaved very differently. In the morning most passengers stick to coffee. Holiday traffic to Malaga buys food, with the chicken sandwich emerging as the clear favourite. On the Oslo route, the airline mainly sells beer.

Testing also killed off a hamburger and fries, which only sold at certain hours of the day. In its place comes the single hot item on the menu, a croque monsieur. Getting it to taste right in the air is its own problem. “We have to do more with herbs or dressing, because food tastes different at ten kilometres because of the air pressure,” said Erwin Hoogzaad, who puts the catering range together.

Scale is the other constraint. KLM carries 25 million passengers a year on its European network, which means thousands of rolls and wraps loaded every day. “We work with large partners, who can also guarantee that the chicken sandwich and the luxury cheese sandwich are there. If we offer something, it also has to be on board,” Gerressen said.

What stays free

The prices look steep, at seven euros for a small bottle of French wine. It is a different white from the one poured free in economy on intercontinental flights, a change Hoogzaad puts down to passengers now paying for it. Gerressen expects the paid catering to turn a small profit but says it will not rescue the airline. About 180 passengers fly a typical European route, and he estimates only around 30 fresh items will go on board.

What separates KLM from Transavia and the low-cost carriers, he says, is what remains free: coffee, orange juice, water, tea and a stroopwafel. Passengers are also still allowed to bring their own sandwiches. “Dutch customers will have to get used to it at first, and there will be emotions.”

Source: De Telegraaf