British Airways to Charge for Food and Beverages on Short-Haul Economy Flights
After cutting back meal service in the economy cabin on transatlantic flights, British Airways will be making some big changes to its short-haul catering services. Starting next year, the carrier will begin charging for all snacks and drinks aboard short-haul flights from London. You'll be charged for everything — including water and coffee — starting in January 2017 on flights from Heathrow (LHR) and Gatwick (LGW), and then by Summer 2017 on flights from London City (LCY) and Stansted (STN) airports. Short-haul business-class passengers will continue to be offered complimentary meals, which will be upgraded as of Spring 2017. You will be able to use Avios to purchase snacks or beverages on board, but it's not the best use of your points.
Several other major European airlines still offer complimentary meals in economy on select flights within Europe including Aegean, Air France, Alitalia, Austrian, KLM, Lufthansa, Swiss and TAP Portugal. While it goes without saying that BA's cutback is not a customer-friendly move, it might prove to be beneficial to the airline, which has been busy cutting costs after the UK's decision to leave the European Union.
Will more airlines follow British Airways' lead in charging for meals on short-haul flights?
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