Fiji Airways tackles flight fatigue with unique dining experience

By August 13, 2019 March 31st, 2020 Catering, Featured

Fiji Airways has announced a new luxury dining experience called ‘Dine on the Ground’ offering passengers the option to have a pre-flight gourmet meal, allowing them to maximise rest whilst travelling. The concept was launched following research from the airline which found that 31% of Australian passengers regularly skip their in-flight meals in favour of sleep, and as a result 38% of food was being wasted.

As part of the new experience, Business Class and Premier guests taking either a morning or late evening flight out of Nadi will now be invited to a have a breakfast or dinner at the Fiji Airways Premier Lounge shortly before boarding.

Fiji Airways’ managing director and CEO, Andre Viljoen said: “While the in-flight experience has improved dramatically over the years across all airlines, the way in which food is served hasn’t changed too much,”

Onboard, guests will still have access to a light brunch or supper, however, by dining pre-flight, onboard meals better reflect the time of day, and according to Fiji Airways will allow guests more time for rest and relaxation.

Health and Wellness expert Mark Bunn has suggested that this new initiative has the potential to knock hours off jet-lag.

“Most of us find it hard enough to sleep on flights but eating large meals onboard will only make that worse due to bloating and indigestion, ” said Bunn.

“The movement and irregular nature of travel makes it much harder to digest food properly. Try to eat a decent meal a good 1-2 hours before travelling. Once on the flight, eat very lightly. By dining on the ground before take-off, you’re giving your body enough time to digest the food – meaning you’ll be more comfortable and more likely to sleep.

“For medium-to long haul flights across time-zones, sleeping is the best way to reduce jet-lag. So any initiative that addresses that, is welcomed,” Bunn added.

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