Food & Drink: What do Travellers Want?

A new report presents a statistical analysis of how premium passengers value catering

Passengers on a plane find many different ways to pass the time. Sleeping is always popular. Watching a movie or following a map on an in-flight entertainment system is, too.

Airlines make great efforts to ensure their passengers have something to do. Even if fun and excitement is unlikely to fill every minute, especially on long- and ultralong-haul sectors.

Alongside entertainment and seating, catering and service design is one of the most important elements of airline product development. On a long flight, almost all passengers will have something to eat or drink.

Food and drink preferences are highly personal to every passenger on a plane. Airlines have invested in developing tasty, attractive meals that eat well at altitude since the dawn of flight.

Each airline’s offer is different and each passenger has their own preferences. However there has been little research into exactly how a passenger’s experience and expectations of airline food and drink influences a person’s decision to buy tickets with one carrier versus another.

We have conducted original statistical research into how in-flight food and drink shapes the perceptions of frequent travellers, particularly those in First and Business Class cabins.

The full report is available to buy for USD 19.99 at https://ancillary.report, but here is a special summary of the results for Airline Revenue Economics readers.

Why did we do this study & why are the results relevant?

The study was designed to gather insights on the impact of food and drink offerings on the airline experience. We specifically focused on premium cabins and long-haul flights.

Our aim is to understand how these offerings influence passenger satisfaction, loyalty,

and overall perceptions of value. We also sought to establish how they could drive revenue growth for airlines.

The data is solid and the insights meaningful for anyone working in airline Customer Experience, Marketing, Revenue Management, Catering or Procurement, as well as teams managing the airline’s lounge and loyalty products.

The study is focused on understanding how First and Business Class travellers perceive food and drink during long-haul flights. An original contribution is studying whether that experience plays a role in how passengers choose an airline.

If some passengers are choosing airlines based on food and drink, that represents an increase in demand which Revenue Management will monetise. Although the Revenue Management team might not, in practice and with current data, realise that flight catering is a factor.

What was our approach?

All the technical details are laid out in the full report. We followed six major statistical rules:

1. We spoke to the right people, only respondents who had flown longhaul First or Business Class in the last 12 months

2. The survey was designed with quality in mind, with a pilot-tested, refined and short instrument and close-ended questions that avoid fatigue and permit both easy and consistent analysis

3. The data was thoroughly cleaned and validated as we conducted a manual review that removed duplicates, incomplete responses and disengaged users

4. We used professional statistical tools, in this case IBM SPSS

5. The sample size and diversity were strong, with over 120 valid responses representing a range of ages, travel frequency and both male and female travellers

6. We went under the surface to consider deep underlying trends, exploring how food and drink impact travel experience, justify the cost of premium tickets and influence future booking decisions.

The question flow followed the passenger journey, from airport lounge to in-flight dining and post-flight reflections. Where relevant, we applied prevalence estimates with 95% confidence intervals to detect statistically significant trends.

What were the highlights of the findings?

83.3% of respondents said that high quality food and drink enhanced their premium flight experience, showing that passengers appreciate a good product.

30.4% said that enjoying good food and drink would influence them to fly with the same airline again.

At first glance this seems low. But nobody flies just to eat a meal. 30.4% is a strong market segment of premium cabin travellers and connecting the dots clearly between food, experience and loyalty will pay dividends for airlines.

Female travellers and semi-frequent flyers are significantly more sensitive to food and drink quality, suggesting a demographic opportunity for targeted services or marketing

Lounge visitors were relatively dissatisfied with the available catering, particularly among frequent travellers and the 35-44 age group. This suggests a gap between what passengers expect and what airlines deliver.

Can airlines drive more revenue by improving food & drink?

United Airlines CFO Michael Leskinen said:

“What’s the impact of adding $50 million to food on NPS? Are we going to sell more tickets? Are we able to sell more because I improved the quality of the chicken that we have on our aircraft? I think you should try to put some maths around it. But in the end, this is about driving brand loyalty to United and those customers choosing to fly us because of that.”

We have done the maths. Yes they will sell more tickets.

83% of premium passengers said food and drink enhanced their flight experience.

Nearly 60% felt it justified the cost of flying business or first class.

30% said it would influence them to fly with the same airline again, especially among younger, female, and frequent travellers.

Half of all respondents said the menu is very important when choosing an airline.

Improving catering doesn’t just delight passengers. It drives upgrades, repeat business, brand preference and even lounge or loyalty programme engagement, easily increasing revenue.

How do airlines monetise food & drink through ticket sales?

In our study, 57.8% of premium travellers said that the food and drink experience justified the cost of flying in business or first class.

Strong F&B offerings help position premium cabins as:

1. Worth the extra spend,

2. An easier upsell to passengers who would otherwise buy economy or premium economy tickets

3. High quality dining differentiates their brand, attracting sophisticated and high-yield consumers who prioritise experience over price.

Better catering is not just a perk. It becomes part of the product that airlines are selling, helping airlines convert higher fares and increase revenue per passenger.

From a formal revenue management perspective, there are four effects that drive revenue:

1. Seat Sale Effect: if good food and drink attracts more passengers, the airline may sell more seats

2. Fare Level Effect: the airline may be able to charge slightly higher fares in some cases

3. Dynamic Pricing Effect: higher demand may cause the airline’s Revenue Management System to close some fare classes earlier, cause some seats to be sold at much higher fares

4. Multiplier Effect: the whole is greater than the sum of it’s parts, as more seats sold at higher fares in higher fare classes products more revenue growth together than each would individually.

How does food and drink in the lounge impact ticket sales?

Lounge access adds tangible value to the premium travel experience and plays a key role in influencing ticket sales, especially in higher fare classes.

In our study, 92.8% of premium travellers visited a lounge. 71.6% enjoyed the food and drink offerings inside.

For many, the lounge is part of what makes the ticket worth the price, especially

for business travellers and frequent flyers.

A high-quality lounge menu can tip the scale toward booking business or first class, particularly when travellers compare carriers.

It also boosts loyalty, as travellers who enjoy the lounge are more likely to stick with an airline long-term or join loyalty programs.

So, investing in premium lounge menus do not just elevate service, they help close sales and justify premium fares.

How does food and drink impact participation in airline Loyalty Programmes?

In our study, many respondents were frequent premium travellers who, most likely, already had loyalty status. 30.4% said that food and drink influenced their decision to fly with the same airline again.

High-quality meals, signature drinks or chef partnerships create memorable moments that passengers associate with an airline’s brand.

For elite members, consistently excellent F&B makes the loyalty status feel worth earning and keeping. Airlines can also tie exclusive dining experiences, special menus or lounge access to loyalty tiers or point redemptions, encouraging more spend and travel to unlock those perks.

Quality menus may also make the co-branded credit cards that are so lucrative to airlines more desirable to consumers.

The bottom line is that great food and drink helps turn satisfied flyers into loyal, repeat customers, increasing both retention and lifetime customer value.

Airlines who offer quality food and drink will enjoy deeper loyalty as they become a lifestyle choice product for sophisticated consumers rather than a travel commodity.

Conclusion

Our results showed that quality food and drink offerings play a crucial role in shaping the airline experience, especially for longhaul first and business class passengers

The data showed 83.3% of respondents reporting that food and drink enhanced their premium travel experience.

Demographic trends show that female passengers, those in the 45-54 age group and semi-frequent travellers are more likely to view in-flight food and drink quality as critical to their overall flight experience.

We also saw 50.0% of respondents saying that food and drink offerings influence their future airline selection, with higher importance placed by females, younger passengers and frequent travellers.

We also noticed a disconnect between expectations and satisfaction. Most respondents are satisfied with in-flight food, but frequent travellers and certain age groups showed higher dissatisfaction, which may be due to elevated expectations from frequent exposure to luxury and lifestyle services.

Further research opportunities

There is room for much more research on this topic.

For example, further exploration is needed to understand the specific factors driving dissatisfaction among frequent travellers.

Airlines also need to understand the potential impact of regional or cultural preferences on food and drink expectations.

The role of quality menus in driving demand for profitable Premium Economy seats also needs to be considered.

And investigating the role of food quality in overall passenger loyalty, and its integration into loyalty programs, could provide valuable insights for airlines.

What do you think we should study?

Get a copy of the report

The full report is available to buy for USD 19.99 at https://ancillary.report.

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