Emirates has taken the first steps in meal pre-ordering, whereby customers are able to pre-select their hot main meal between 14 days and 24 hours in advance of their flight, ensuring they get their preferred meal choice every time, as well as helping to reduce food wastage.

The initiative was rolled out on July 25 in business class, on all flights between Dubai and London Heathrow, London Gatwick and London Stansted, adding even more benefits to the Emirates customer experience, improving time management and adding another layer of insight into meal consumption onboard.

Meal pre-ordering was added to the existing suite of AI-enabled customer preference tracking data and cabin crew reports, which facilitate menu planning and optimal food loading to deliver the premium ‘restaurant in the sky’ inflight dining experience.

Up to 14 days before a flight, passengers are able to browse the onboard menu on https://www. emirates.com/english/experience/dining/meal-preorder/ or on the Emirates app and choose from a selection of regionally inspired dishes with locally sourced ingredients. Passengers can also pre-order special meals if required.

On the aircraft, cabin crew use a custom-built application on a device to view the meal selection and serve the passenger their choice of hot dish. Emirates plans to expand the meal pre-order initiative to more routes and classes in the near future and is closely monitoring customer feedback from the initial roll-out phase.

The pre-ordering meal service innovation is another addition to the convenience of digitally enabled journeys that Emirates passengers enjoy. As well as website check-in and app check-in, the option of digital boarding passes and itinerary management, passengers can also access digital menus in advance, join Emirates Skywards to immediately access free connectivity based on tier membership and class of travel, and spend time curating a playlist of favourite movies, TV shows and music available on ICE, which they can synchronise from their app to their TV screen the moment they board.

Emirates passengers are also invited to review all aspects of their flight in a quick digital survey that appears on the inflight entertainment screen.