Check Out Austrian Airline's Pre-Order Meals

Austrian Airlines is part of a growing number of airlines who are providing passengers with the option to pre-order and pay for a premium dining option in economy class. Whilst not the first they are certainly making it more convenient for passengers to pre-order meals by introducing new innovations in the passenger experience as well as providing excellent meal choices for passengers.

In the last 12 to 18 months we have seen a sizable increase in the number of airlines offering economy class passengers pre-order à la carte meals. Only last week US Airways announced a tie up with Air Meals to offer several pre-order meal options (ex Philadelphia and Charlotte) to over 24 destinations worldwide making them the only America-based carrier to offer such services to their international passengers. In Canada Westjet is trialing pre-order meals (ex Toronto) on flights of 2.5 hours or longer to 35 destinations, and within the U.S., Delta has its’ offering of the DineUp pre-order meal options on select transcontinental services across the U.S.

Austrian Airlines offering includes new innovations, the first being that meals are not only available (ex Vienna) they are also available ex New York). Many other pre-order long haul offerings only allow passengers to pre-order from the airlines home port, allowing the airline to control the product and the quality. By using DO & CO Austrian is able to control the quality in both ports as the catering provider has stations in both cities, something that some other airlines can not offer at the moment.

But of course the most innovative part is the convenience for passengers. Since moving into the Star Alliance Terminal on June 5 passengers can pre-order their meals at a dedicated DO & CO à la carte desk which is open from 05:30 to 22:30 everyday. (Hawaiian Airlines followed suit on August 1 introducing the “Ho’okipa Desk” in departure lounges, where passengers can pre-order premium meals, snacks or entertainment systems before they board their flight). Last Minute Orders for Austrian flights can be placed until one hour prior to scheduled departure from Vienna airport, the order is then sent to the catering facility at the airport. Meals are cooked on the day of departure and Austrian Airlines pride themselves on providing excellent quality and superior freshness. For those who want to pre-order their meals they can do so on the dedicated website http://alacarte.doco.com

This article first appeared on airlinetrends written by Nikos from Inflight Feed.

InFlightFeed covers airline food news from around the globe, inflight meal reviews, stories and product updates.

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