From aerospaceglobalnews.com
Vegan meals are moving from special request to elevated cuisine as airlines rethink plant-forward food onboard and in their lounges
Vegan meals have long existed in airline catering under the familiar “VGML” code — a special-meal request quietly loaded onto flights for passengers with dietary needs. But what once was a functional accommodation is becoming a strategic culinary focus for carriers worldwide.
Plant-based food is increasingly seen as an essential part of modern in-flight dining, with airlines treating vegan meals with the same care as their other culinary offerings.
This shift is visible in airlines like Emirates, which has reinvented how vegan cuisine is developed and presented, and in broader airline menus where plant-forward options are becoming more creative, consistent, and desirable.
Emirates: “plant-powered plates” at altitude and on the ground
In time for Veganuary 2026, Emirates announced an evolution of its vegan food strategy, which focuses on minimally processed, whole-plant foods such as legumes, grains, nuts, seeds, and seasonal vegetables rather than engineered meat substitutes.
The airline framed this shift as a response to customer demand for flavourful, satisfying meals that feel fresher and less engineered. The menus draw inspiration from Mediterranean, Asian, Levantine, and African culinary traditions.
Emirates now has nearly 500 vegan recipes in rotation across its global network, serving hundreds of thousands of plant-based meals annually on flights covering more than 140 destinations. The airline expects much of the new portfolio to start appearing more broadly onboard from 2027, built into menus across all cabin classes rather than hidden behind special-meal codes.
Vegan food across Emirates’ cabins
Emirates has tailored its vegan offerings to different cabin experiences:
- Economy Class: hearty, flavourful dishes such as pumpkin frittata with sautéed mushrooms, spinach cannelloni with tomato basil sauce, and desserts like vegan chocolate mousse or carrot cake with coconut cream.
- Premium Economy: more sophisticated plant-forward plates like kimchi fried rice with roasted pumpkin and oyster mushrooms, finished with coconut cake and pineapple compote.
- Business Class: curated options including braised mushrooms in five-spice soy sauce with jasmine rice and pak choi, alongside coconut panna cotta with raspberry mousse or chocolate tofu cheesecake.
- First Class: elevated vegetarian cuisine, such as pumpkin and barley risotto, quinoa salad with grilled vegetables, and refined desserts, such as a strawberry tart with vanilla custard or sticky date pudding with salted caramel.
These dishes are not only available via advance VGML requests (which can be made up to 24 hours before departure), but on high-demand routes are also included as standard menu items—a sign that Emirates sees vegan meals moving into the mainstream of its culinary offering.
Emirates lounges: plant-forward dining before departure
Emirates’ commitment to vegan dining extends beyond the aircraft to its Dubai International Airport lounges, where passengers often enjoy a substantial meal before boarding. Emirates operates seven lounges in Terminal 3 (three First Class lounges, three Business Class lounges, and one new premium lounge for upper-tier guests), all of which offer notable plant-based selections.
Examples of vegan offerings in the Emirates lounges include:
- Soya and pea protein crispy pops at the Business Class Lounge snack counters, a playful plant-based bite that pairs well with pre-flight drinks and casual grazing.
- Spiced Baharat and turmeric kofta in coconut gravy at buffet stations, providing a rich, aromatic entrée that pairs well with warm flatbreads and rice.
- À la carte vegan breakfast in the First Class lounges, such as warm amaranth porridge served with compressed green apples, red grapes, raspberries and walnuts — a textured, nourishing start to travel day.
- A wide array of fresh salads and seasonal bowls, allowing travellers to assemble colourful, nutrient-dense plates.
- One of the most popular plant-based creations served at the lounges is the Emirates Green Burger. The soya and flaxseed patty is paired with signature sauce and pickled cucumbers—a satisfying protein-rich vegan option before departure.
Together, these menus signal that Emirates’ vegan strategy is holistic. It doesn’t start and end with in-flight meal trays, but shapes the brand’s passenger experience from the ground up.
Cathay Pacific’s chef-curated plant-forward meals
While Emirates’ announcement is new, Cathay Pacific took an early step toward elevating vegan food back in 2023, partnering with VEDA by Ovolo, a respected plant-forward restaurant in Hong Kong. Cathay introduced curated plant-based menus designed to bring chef-driven vegan cuisine into its in-flight dining on premium economy and economy cabins, rather than treating vegan meals as purely functional special-meal items.
The airline’s premium economy vegan menu included appetisers such as Bombay carrot salad with cashews, raisins and cherry tomatoes; an Indian-inspired slaw with a fragrant dressing infused with lime juice, coriander powder and ginger; and Hummus with roasted cauliflower and pickled red onions.
Flavourful main dishes included Keralan-style coconut curry with mushrooms, red bell peppers, and cumin rice; a roasted vegetable tagine with halloumi cheese and pearl couscous; and the Thai classic Panang dry curry tofu with cashews and coconut rice
Economy vegan options featured appetisers such as purple quinoa tabouli and Mediterranean potato salad. Main course selections included Khao soi – Northern Thai-style coconut curry noodles with mixed vegetables, and a variation of paneer makhani, consisting of paneer cheese in a creamy, smoked tomato gravy, served with cumin rice. Alternatively, could enjoy vegetable masala with green pulao rice.
This initiative reflected a growing expectation among all travellers for thoughtful plant-based food—an expectation that has only intensified since.
Qatar Airways’ vegan business class cuisine
In 2020, Qatar Airways introduced its first range of fully vegan dishes to its à la carte menu for business class, designed to meet the growing passenger demand for plant-based food of culinary quality.
Designed with sustainability and flavour in mind, the airline’s vegan dishes use only fresh, locally and internationally sourced ingredients. The airline introduced a range of flavourful vegan dishes, including smoked moutabel, spiral courgettes with arrabbiata sauce, tofu and spinach tortellini, Asian barbecue tofu, noodles with scallions and shiitake, fried tofu with vegetable tajine, cauliflower couscous and kalamata bruschetta, and chickpea flour omelette.
A global shift toward plant-based in-flight dining
Elsewhere in the industry, vegan meals are moving from optional accommodation toward expected culinary options:
- British Airways, Lufthansa, SWISS, and Austrian Airlines all offer vegan meals via pre-order, often leveraging local European flavours and vegetables to keep plant-driven dishes fresh and distinctive.
- Nordic carriers like Finnair and SAS integrate vegan options into broader sustainability messaging, with menus that reflect seasonal, locally inspired plant-based cuisine.
- In Asia, Japan Airlines and ANA draw on traditional Buddhist vegetarian principles for vegan meal offerings, while Korean Air and Singapore Airlines provide elevated plant-forward options, particularly in premium cabins.
- US carriers such as Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, and American Airlines offer vegan meals on international flights, with varying degrees of consistency, and occasional high-profile collaborations with plant-based food brands.
- Even budget carriers like easyJet and Jetstar are responding to demand with vegan buy-on-board snacks, wraps, and hot options tailored to quick, convenient service.
Why vegan cuisine works at altitude—and ahead of departure
There’s a practical side to this trend. Plant-based meals often fare better in the dry, pressurised cabin environment because bold spices, umami-rich vegetables, and fermented ingredients retain flavour at altitude, where taste perception is suppressed.
The vegan menu expansion into lounges shows that some airlines see food quality not just as a basic service, but as part of the overall travel experience. A satisfying plant-based meal before departure can set a positive tone for the journey ahead, particularly on long-haul flights.
Vegan in-flight meals transition from special request to menu pillar
What Emirates’ latest evolution underlines is that vegan food is no longer an afterthought in airline catering. It’s entering the mainstream as a restaurant-worthy category that passengers expect to be flavourful, thoughtful, and integral to the in-flight and airport experience.
More carriers could invest in plant-forward culinary expertise—in the sky and on the ground —as vegan fine dining becomes a normalised, and increasingly celebrated, part of modern air travel.
https://aerospaceglobalnews.com/news/airline-vegan-cuisine-in-flight-meals/
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