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15 Sept 2023

The eight worst airlines for food

When it comes to dining at 30,000ft, flyers are a captive audience. To find out which airlines serve the most unappetising in-flight meals we surveyed more than 8,000 Which? members.

Trevor BakerSenior researcher & writer

In this article

Short-haul airline food ratings
The worst short-haul airlines for food
Ryanair
Wizz Air
EasyJet
Long-haul airline food ratings
The worst long-haul airlines for food
Tui

Ryanair, Tui and Aer Lingus are the worst airlines for food, according to passengers in our latest survey.

Tui and Aer Lingus food was rated one star by passengers on long-haul services, where meals are often included in the price of your ticket. Ryanair was the only short-haul airline to get one star. Several other airlines, including British Airways and EasyJet gained just two stars.

Passengers told us about the food and drink onboard as part of our best and worst airlines survey. Nine airlines were rated four stars for food and drink.

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Short-haul airline food ratings

On short-haul, food usually has to be bought, and it's often expensive. Sandwiches are typically £5 or more. But the high price doesn't translate into high quality, according to passengers. A common problem is also that some budget airlines don't stock enough food, leaving customers hungry.

From our airline survey, these are the three airlines with two stars or fewer out of five for food and drink.

Airline	Customer score	Food & drink	Value for money
Ryanair	52%
Wizz Air	48%
EasyJet	59%

Table notes: Food & drink: the range and quality of food and drink on board. Value for money: Overall value offered by the airline. Customer score: Combination of overall satisfaction and likelihood of recommending to friend or family. Which? members were surveyed in October 2022, results based on 8,046 experiences (short-haul and long-haul combined).

The worst short-haul airlines for food

Ryanair

The only short-haul airline to get just one star for food, Ryanair’s in-flight offerings are as disappointing as the rest of its service. More than one person described it as 'very poor'. Others complained of either a very limited selection or - in the worst cases - no food available on their flight. This is despite the fact that Ryanair’s business model involves making money from ‘extras’ such as in-flight meals.

Wizz Air

Wizz Air was branded the worst airline to fly out of the UK after our last survey and the scandalous number of county court judgments it racked up after failing to pay compensation or expense claims. It's unsurprising that its food and drink were poor as well, although it got two stars rather than the dismal one star it got in several other categories.

EasyJet

There were three major issues passengers had with easyJet's food: its cost, quality and (by far the majority of complaints) a shortage of many items shown on the menu. One passenger said 'they just didn't seem to have enough food'.

Long-haul airline food ratings

On long haul the food served up by some of the better airlines – such as Emirates, Etihad, Qatar and Singapore, all of whom got four stars in our most recent survey – is something you look forward to as the best part of the flight. On other airlines, though, it’s a crushing disappointment. Some of the airlines below are not cheap to fly with so there is no excuse for serving such poor food.

	Customer score	Food & drink	Value for money
Tui	60%
Aer Lingus	65%
Lufthansa	57%
British Airways	59%
KLM	63%

Table notes: Food & drink: the range and quality of food and drink on board. Value for money: Overall value offered by the airline. Customer score: Combination of overall satisfaction and likelihood of recommending to friend or family. Which? members were surveyed in October 2022, based on 8,046 experiences (short-haul and long-haul combined).

The worst long-haul airlines for food

Tui

Food matters most on long-haul flights but this was where Tui let its passengers down. While it got three stars for food and drink on short haul it got just one star on long-haul. Passengers complained it was 'unhealthy and expensive' while one said the choice was poor even at the start of the flight - 'and even worse when they ran out'.

Aer Lingus

Like Tui, Aer Lingus also failed to provide decent food where it most matters - on long-haul flights. Its customer score puts it much higher in our overall table than rivals such as British Airways but it got just one star for food - described as 'inedible'.

Lufthansa

The lowest-rated long-haul carrier also got just two stars for food. More than one person complained of food running out or options being extremely limited. The German flag-carrier seems very similar to the British flag-carrier in the poor service it provide passengers.

British Airways

One BA customer complained of being given a 'cold bun' for breakfast on their long-haul flight. Another said the food was 'disgusting' while many others complained of food running out or of poor choice. BA caused headlines in 2017 when it started selling M&S sandwiches and again in 2021 when it stopped, but the food remains consistently poor, with just two stars.

KLM

'We travelled with KLM 10 years ago,' one passenger said, 'and the quality of food and drink has declined significantly'. It may be a bit better than British Airways but KLM, too, got just two stars for the food and drink. 'Uninspiring' was another complaint.