Kibkom North Cyprus Forum

Almost 2000 Kibkomers have viewed the two posts on BA’s food and 56 have posted their opinions so this subject is obviously of interest and concern to many BA customers in the North.
We laughed out loud at the Yorkshire Airlines clip and think it should be sent to British Airways catering department to show them the standard they should aspire to!! The cabin staff might learn a thing or two as well!!

On a more serious note, I would suggest that if you are served what you consider to be inferior/inadequate food on the five hour flight that you request a Comment Card and fill it in and hand it to the cabin crew and that way at least, BA will be aware of customer opinion and, if enough people complain, they might re-instate the hot meal.

Ps. Never did find out exactly what “umami” is but, whatever it is, BA’s food is rich in it.

Google is your friend http://www.umamiinfo.com/2011/02/What-e ... -umami.php

After my last BA flight last week, I have sadly come to the conclusion that they are going the way of the budget airlines, certainly on their European routes. I travelled Club Europe using Avoid points but I would never again pay for a seat in that class,( which are now the same size as Euro Traveller.) Despite complaining,BA try to justify the changes by saying it is rolling out improvements for their customers, rather than profits for their shareholders. They have probably lost me as a customer as I will be looking at Norwegian Airlines now, even if I have to provide my own food.

Maisiemoo, at least that way, you get to eat something that you really enjoy!

I have flown with BA for years, they have lost me as a passenger, the food is terrible, for a long time it was chicken (vomit inducing) curry but it has worsened in the last few months.

The food on easyjet is much better, yes you have to pay but that is preferable to me.

Most airline inflight food is poor,.. always has been.
Do what I do 30 mins before boarding have a meal in one of the many decent restaurants in the airport, good food pleasant surroundings with a bit more elbow room .

Just flown BA Larnaca to Heathrow, then BA LRH to our new home in Prague today....some of you people seriously need to get out and about. So, BA are changing their caterers ? So, there is only rolls and sandwhiches, which were actually damn good, smoked ham and cheese, and as much free booze as you could drink. SO, you were inconvenienced once ?, So you will never fly BA again ? You lot have lost it. Pathetic complaining whinging Brits. Get yourselves a new life.....!

wow that was harsh and uncalled for

No need to be rude

That told me then! Have a nice new life in Prague Elkiton.

elkiton wrote: some of you people seriously need to get out and about..... You lot have lost it..... Pathetic complaining whinging Brits.

Elkiton these comments are insulting and zenophobic. This subject is of a lot of interest to many people, both Ex-pats and Turkish Cypriots. Maisiemoo’s post was expressing her experience which is what people do on Kibkom AND POSTERS SHOULDN’T BE INSULTED FOR DOING SO. You may be happy with the free booze. WOULD YOU BE HAPPY IF THEY DID AWAY WITH THE BOOZE AND REPLACED IT WITH WATER?

Good Morning,

Firstly I have contacted elkiton with regards to the posting made.

Secondly, I closed the original BA Food thread as I believed the comments being made were going downhill and were getting a little personal.

I have been monitoring this thread and considered closing it after the first poster had written.....it does say in the thread title BA Food....... Conclusion. However, I decided that as the thread was of interest it should be left as long as comments did not again go downhill.

Thread will be left for now but can I ask that comments are kept to the topic and also do not break forum rules. Unfortunately if comments fall outside the forum rules this topic will be locked/deleted.

Many Thanks for your help and understanding.

Posh is being kind. My initial reaction was to delete Elkinton post. However It had been decided to leave it. It is against forum rules to be insulting and the post was reported as such but it it's being left for reasons which may appear obvious (!!!!).
Please take the message that insults are not acceptable and before posting the writer is urged to stop and consider what it is saying about themselves

A rule of thumb I endeavour to follow is... would I walk up to a stranger in a pub and say what I post to their face? If the answer is no - then it's likely to cause offence and best not to put in those terms...

Never tell someone else to 'get a life' they might take yours!

Indeed Groucho. The reward of a knife in the rib is not one most of us seek. So, as my dear old mum used to say 'Before opening mouth - engage brain-. Today it is 'Engage brain before battering keyboard'.

Getting back on topic, BA Club Europe on the A320s Lon - Larnaca route is rubbish. The legroom is the same as economy. The staff are underpaid overworked newer recruits on much worse contracts than the older ones that work the longer haul. There is zero job satisfaction, there is zero customer satisfaction and there is zero interest in either from BA. It's all about short term profits which earn big bonuses for the bosses implementing the "enhancements". It will work for a few years and then the profits and passenger numbers will plummet. They are cushioned by low oil prices and trading off the good BA name at the moment but once people cotton on to what they are doing people will switch airlines.

BA was once the gold standard. It's no more British than Ryanair. It's simply a Spanish airline company striving to maximise profits at the expense of its staff and customers. Some of the measures are downright spiteful but then Willy Walsh was recruited from AirLingus to make BA more competitive and ultimately compete with the Low Cost Carriers.

He has succeeded in his remit but ruined the brand.

I suggest you fly with whoever gives the best price/time.

We sometimes use BA into Larnaca but only if we get a good price.....if Turkish into Ercan is close on price we will always fly with them as we have found they offer the best service, IFE, meals etc. Occasionally use Easyjet if there is a real bargain to be had. Have also looked but not used Norwegian.

Overall its TA into Ercan for us as by the time you factor in transfer time from Larnaca plus cost it seems better value.

Not sure how true it is but one of the crew told me once it didn't matter if there weren't any passengers on the flight it made its money on the cargoe

Most of us now expect a 5 star service at a 2 star price... how times have changed.
We are all aware that if something comes to us at a good price it normally means costs or quality have taken a bashing so really we shouldn't be too surprised when things falls short of our expectations.

We need to try and get used to this scenario as everybody in business is driving costs down to try to win our money ?

I understand what you are saying turtle but I would rather pay more to get a decent service. I have thought for a long time that the aircraft used on the Heathrow to larnaca flight is substandard, it can be 5 hours on the plane, too long without more leg room and space, on one return we had a plane with entertainment screen in back of seat and much more room, it was a good flight.

Posh, I am with you! This says it all: http://www.turkishairlines.com/en-int/c ... four-years There is no such thing as a free lunch, you DO get what you pay for and if you want to fly cheap then expect to eat cheap. Flying always encompasses many hidden costs such as baggage charges, food charges, taxi fares to and from departures/arrivals, they are just financial. You should always try to pick an airline that has a good reputation even if it is slightly more expensive, after all you would not chose the cheapest heart surgeon to do the job if you needed heart surgery - or would you! I always remember this quote from the film "Armageddon" - You know we're sitting on four million pounds of fuel, one nuclear weapon and a thing that has 270,000 moving parts built by the lowest bidder. Makes you feel good, doesn't it? The question you should ask yourself is this: If the airline is cutting back on food, services, baggage allowance, etc, how much is it cutting back on maintenance and aircraft safety? In 15 years I have never had a bad flight with Turkish.

Echo that waddo. Why do people use the south airports at all? TA is by far the best airline routing this way, as proved by their continued 'Best Airline' international award.

I've tried all ways and found London - Larnaca to be the quickest route and best journey including car hire.

The flight is 4 hours. The car journey to Girne is just over an hour.

The flight from London - Ercan by Pegasus is more like 7 hours sitting on the same plane. You can get to Canada in that time!

My reluctance with TA is the changing of plane. On BA you are on one plane all the way. I just don't want to disrupt a plane journey in that way.

Hedge-fund, I agree with you there. Gatwick is only half an hour journey for us and as my husband needs disability assistance I'd worry about changing planes at Istanbul. The assistance at Larnaca is good, always waiting for him as we get off the plane, pick up luggage and then arrange for taxi driver to pick us up outside the terminal building, so very liitle walking for him and less stress for me!

Hedge, Each to their own I guess but it would depend on where you live at the departure point and if you are coming on holiday or just coming for a 90 day visit or coming back to your home. I always used to start my holiday as soon as the bags left my control at Departures - what happened after that was no longer in my hands anyway so I just enjoyed the trip no matter how long it took. Changing planes was never a big thing but I would never sit on one whilst it was refueled - to me that was the same as sitting on a bomb waiting for someone to press the bang button.

And there is another very good reason from Maisiemoo why you choose where to fly from, I bet that cost is not a real consideration there either, it will be passenger comfort that wins the day!

Many factors to consider when making a choice of which airline to use.

BA used to be our airline of choice about 5 years ago. This was mainly driven by the excellent service we received when we "volunteered"to be offloaded on a return flight from Athens to UK in 2008. Not only was compensation very generous and paid instantly, the overnight hotel, pick up and service was excellent. We felt valued as a customer. However; in recent years we have to agree the aircraft, meals and IFE on BA has gone downhill. Plus the lure of not changing aircraft on route has also wained and the Larnaca transfer/cost made us look elsewhere.

TA prices ifbooked early are very good value, luggage allowance good, there is a good choice of departure times to Istanbul and onward to Ercan. Living in thesouth west we have to travel anyway so Haethrow, Gatwick or Birmingham is for us. Aircraft have in the main been newer and often have individual IFE systems. Food is very good and service is very pleasant. Yes you have to change at Istanbul, but we see it as an opportunity to stretch our legs and if you time it right you can do it in 1 hour.....altho you do have planty of choice of onward to Ercan so if you dont want to rush just select a later flight. Arrival at Ercan and onward transfer also quicker.

For those that have not tried TA and are able to book early give them a look....no extras for luggage, food etc.

But of course if its just about price then Easyjet or Pegasus probably work for most.

You can book assistance for disabled when booking the flight wit TA, at Istanbul you are transported by motorised buggies to your forwarding gate along with anyone with you.

My Son works for BA, so I told him your story and he has told me that as BA advertise the fare to include COMPLEMENTARY drinks and food, so they are not obliged to provide a hot meal. However, on many short haul flights it does depend on the aircraft as to what you get in terms of a food, so on the London - Larnaca - London route they use two types of aircraft the airbus or 767, if you fly on the 767 you WILL still get a hot meal, and the airbus is just a snack.
I am flying in two weeks time so I asked him to check my flights and outbound I will get a snack and inbound I will get a hot meal.
I hope that this clarifies and answers your question. I will always fly BA where possible, ok I do get discounted flights but for me the safety and the training of the BA staff far outweighs any other airline!

Hedge fund, where do you get 7 hours from it only ever takes me 5 and a half hours.3 and a half to Istanbul max,45 minutes on plane,1 hour ten to Ercan.

michelle3012 wrote:My Son works for BA, so I told him your story and he has told me that as BA advertise the fare to include COMPLEMENTARY drinks and food, so they are not obliged to provide a hot meal. However, on many short haul flights it does depend on the aircraft as to what you get in terms of a food, so on the London - Larnaca - London route they use two types of aircraft the airbus or 767, if you fly on the 767 you WILL still get a hot meal, and the airbus is just a snack.
I am flying in two weeks time so I asked him to check my flights and outbound I will get a snack and inbound I will get a hot meal.
I hope that this clarifies and answers your question. I will always fly BA where possible, ok I do get discounted flights but for me the safety and the training of the BA staff far outweighs any other airline!

I can confirm that this is not correct in our experience. Flew out Heathrow - Larnaca on an aged Boeing 767 on 31/3/15. The meal was not hot, it was a wrap filled with chicken and salad along with a cold chocolate pudding. Last year in Sept 2014 our daughter and partner flew same route and same aircraft......they were offered snack meal only. As we were aware it was snack only we opted to purchase a Plane Food meal from Gordon Ramseys whilst in the airport.

I can also agree with Posh in Devon, I have been flying BA for years, they did serve a hot meal until about a year ago which was an vomit inducing chicken curry, it looked dreadful and tasted even worse. Once it was fish and chips and I thought, great, wrong, it was luke warm and and truly awful, I gave it back to the stewardess and got the BA shrug.

On all flights now you get the cold chicken wrap and cold chocolate thing, both unappetising in the extreme.

Michele your son is simply wrong, sorry.

Well one thing for certain I will be travelling next weekend with TA and we will be well fed and watered with comfortable seats and TV and music at the touch of a button.

Fly TA .... you know it makes sense

For TRNC, TA is the way. BA, no way!

Not just Ercan for me with TA I go to Turkey with them too, change at Istanbul no problem. The alternative from Manchester is Thomas Cook no comparison and dearer.

Hi Michelle it doesn't have anything to do with type of aircraft it is because the caterers were part of Cyprus Airways and no longer exist. BA have supposedly been unable to find an alternative so all food is brought out from London. That and it cuts even more cost and increases profitability. The great God profit.

Loobyloo wrote:Hi Michelle it doesn't have anything to do with type of aircraft it is because the caterers were part of Cyprus Airways and no longer exist. BA have supposedly been unable to find an alternative so all food is brought out from London. That and it cuts even more cost and increases profitability. The great God profit.

This is as I posted on the original thread that was closed. Type of aircraft does not matter, catering was provided via Cyprus Airways supplier and when they folded the catering went as well. Hence no hot food.

The London - Larnaca route is simply not high profile for BA compared to flying across the pond to the USA or to far east, China etc. Hence in the main the aged 767 is used. We like BA but sadly on this route they have really fallen down in the overall service offered whereas TA have remained consistently high.

Watch this space I will confirm once I have returned! He does not fly this route, but that is historically how it worked! One of the reasons for the change is that the galley in the Airbus is not big enough to hold the trolleys for the hot meals, and they are not equipped with enough ovens! I will also pass on your comments to a friend of mine that works on the catering side for BA and see if he can tell me more.

I can confirm you only get the snack in economy whatever flight you take. I've done the A320 and the 767 5 times this year in front and back of cabins.

The 767 is the better option because of legroom.

Up front in the middle seats is best as you have no-one in the middle seat and both of you have aisle access.

Lottidotti wrote:Hedge fund, where do you get 7 hours from it only ever takes me 5 and a half hours.3 and a half to Istanbul max,45 minutes on plane,1 hour ten to Ercan.

I only did Stansted - Ercan once and it was on Pegasus. We landed in Turkey in some God forbidden place near Syria before taking off for Cyprus.

I vowed never again but if the BA product doesn't improve and you say TA can do it in 5 and a half I may give that a go.

Hedge-Fund, the 5.5 hours would be with Pegasus, the minimum with TA is about 6.5 hours as you have to get off the plane and go to the next gate for boarding!

Hedge-fund,

If you look on Skyscanner, when they list the available flights / routes / prices, they also indicate the journey time, which can vary a lot - it's well worth looking at, for options.

michelle3012 wrote:Hedge-Fund, the 5.5 hours would be with Pegasus, the minimum with TA is about 6.5 hours as you have to get off the plane and go to the next gate for boarding!

In that case - noooooooo

I've done Pegasus and I can't fit in the seats!

Keithcaley wrote:Hedge-fund,

If you look on Skyscanner, when they list the available flights / routes / prices, they also indicate the journey time, which can vary a lot - it's well worth looking at, for options.

Thanks Keith - yep used to do that and have tried all routes and quite a few airlines.

For me the best A to B route is LON - Larnaca on the BA 767 and then hire a car for the drive to Girne. Over the 10 years of doing the journey it gives the best timings, legroom, service, speed and reliability.

BA also have 2 flights some days from Heathrow but unfortunately they are refitting the planes and I didn't find the new seats as comfortable.

Hedge fund, how come you cannot fit in the seats?

I am sure that Pegasus have seats for disabled who need more leg room?

Spoke to my friend in catering, yes there should be hot meals, however as Poshindevon said since Cyprus Airways have gone there is no caterer from LCA, so the food, drinks etc have to be loaded for both inbound and outbound in London and there is not enough room on board, but in normal circumstances a flight of this length is hot food catered, I hope that answers the original posters question. All the best everyone happy flying!

So given that the airline industry abhors a vacuum I take the other airlines operating at a profit out of Larnaca have increased their schedules to take up the slack capacity left by the demise of CA... so why are caterers not engaged to service this requirement?

Fly Ercan and leave the airlines who can't organise a piss up in brewery to rue the day they thought it OK to serve a croissant rather than the meal paid for.....

Groucho
The main point you have missed, is that you have not paid for a meal or the drinks as they are complimentary!!!!!

With respect, nothing is free or complimentary, you pay for the food in the price BA charge.

michelle3012 wrote:Groucho
The main point you have missed, is that you have not paid for a meal or the drinks as they are complimentary!!!!!

They are not complimentary they are complementary and are part of the included service charged for. 'There is no free lunch, unless you are a lawyer....'