Emirates removes seafood meal from economy class menu

Dubai airline Emirates has confirmed that its seafood meal option has been removed from economy class menus.

The move, which has been communicated to Emirates’ Skywards loyalty programme members, follows an internal “review”, the airline said.

“As part of our continuous review of the products and services available to customers, Emirates can confirm that it will discontinue the seafood special meal option in economy class,” a spokesperson said.

“We constantly review our offering, taking into consideration customer uptake and feedback. This helps us improve service efficiencies. Food and drink form an integral part of any Emirates flight experience and our menus are created by leading chefs to reflect the culture and preferences of Emirates’ diverse customer base.”

Currently, the airline offers 22 special meals catering to medical, dietary, and religious requirements, according to its website. Some of them include bland meal, diabetic meal, gluten-free meal and vegetarian meal.

“Our economy class customers enjoy a wide variety of regionally inspired dishes with locally sourced ingredients to suit all tastes. This includes an extensive selection of complimentary wines, spirits, beers and soft drinks served throughout the flight,” the spokesperson added.

Emirates has been revealing a number of new measures in recent months as it seeks to tighten operations in the current economic environment.

From October 2016, the carrier began charging for advance seat selection on certain economy class fares.

The fees range from Dhs50 ($15) for short haul flights between Dubai and the GCC, Middle East, Iran, West Asia and the Indian Ocean to Dhs100 ($25) for Europe, the Far East and Africa and Dhs150 ($40) for the Americas, Australia and New Zealand.

Read more: Dubai’s Emirates to begin charging for seat selection

Emirates president Tim Clark also said in December that the airline was aiming to introduce a new premium economy class to its flights within the next 18 months.

Read: Dubai’s Emirates plans premium economy within 18 months

The airline, which reported a 75 per cent decline in first half profit in November, said market conditions were affecting operations.

Increased competition and political and economic uncertainty in many parts of the world had dampened prices and travel demand, Emirates chairman Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed al-Maktoum said in a statement at the time.

Read: Dubai airline Emirates H1 net profit slumps 75%