Simone Walli, Food and Beverage and Onboard Concept Manager at Austrian Airlines discusses the airline’s approach to catering for people with allergies and reveals a key development planned for the summertime.
We are introducing our snack box, most likely from July, for guests in Business class. One of Creative Nature’s products will be flying in the snack box with us, so we will have at least one product that can safely be given to people with allergies.
Our cabin crews are always happy to help people with allergies, who are always welcome talk to a gate member and to pre-board to clean things down
The crew members get information beforehand, before they board, via their briefing tools. It’s a step forward to help people with allergies feel more comfortable onboard.
Our cabin crews have a booklet on their iPads that tells the contents of every single item of food we have onboard on flights from Austria.
We have started establishing the same thing everywhere around the world. Wherever we cater, our caterers have to provide us with this information so the cabin crew can always, with certainty, tell passengers what’s in the food served during flights.
This is a top priority when I go out to our caterers for the menu presentations. I always tell them: ‘No peanuts, and please give us the content list of everything that’s in the menu.’
Our website is in German and English. Beyond that, our call centre can always help people in multiple languages.
Since we are trying to get rid of any top allergy triggers, we are taking steps to cut out all potential problems and create a safe airline for everyone.
I have allergies myself and I really take it seriously because everyone who flies with us is our guest. Austrian Airlines is known for hospitality and should be welcoming for everyone.
I think we’re getting there in terms of catering for guests with allergies. The trend is going in the right direction.
