Cathay and Dragonair dumping hot meals in favour of sandwiches
Sandwiches and box meals for regional flights as Cathay, Dragonair seek savings and more sales
The humble sandwich is becoming standard fare on some Cathay Pacific Airways flights as the carrier cuts costs.
Cathay Pacific and its wholly owned subsidiary Dragonair are cutting back on hot meals on some short hauls as their bottom line comes under pressure.
Since January 1, Dragonair has replaced hot meals with sandwiches for flights to Taiwan and Manila. Cathay is already serving sandwiches on Taiwan flights.
An airline spokesman said the carrier would make sure the sandwiches were heated and served with juice and biscuits.
The cost-cutting measures are expected to be unpopular, given Asian travellers' penchant for hot meals.
One traveller at web-based forum flyertalk, said: "I usually pick the KA [Dragonair] flights for the Taiwan routes over CX [Cathay] since they had nice hot meals and CX was just that cold sandwich."
Dragonair said it would listen to feedback and review inflight services as appropriate. "We believe the change will enable passengers to enjoy a smooth and more relaxed journey on such a short flight as the time for serving and retrieving the meal trays will be shortened," a spokesman said.