Choosing food on board Aeroflot: what is on the menu and how to order. Kosher meals on Aeroflot planes Order Aeroflot baby food
Many people on our planet follow diets. Some do it for medical reasons, while others do it for religious reasons. There are also vegetarians. Special meals are also provided for infants and young children. But now you are getting ready for the trip and have chosen for the trip “What will they feed on board?” - those who adhere to a special diet ask themselves with alarm. And not many people know that Aeroflot, along with regular meals, provides kosher, halal, Christian Lenten, Muslim and Hindu meals. The requests of vegetarians are also taken into account. For the latter, there are sets with fruits and vegetables. If you have little ones traveling with you, you can rest assured that the stewards will bring baby or baby food for them. Those on a diet for medical reasons may order lactose-free, low-fat, unsalted, unsweetened or other special foods. But in this article we will focus our attention on only one point: what is kosher Aeroflot respects all religious beliefs and provides Jewish believers with a menu of dishes prepared in full compliance with the rules of kashrut.
Difficulties in Following a Religious Diet
For vegetarians, everything is simple: do not eat meat and fish (in some cases, milk and eggs). All other products are acceptable for consumption. Approximately the same can be said about religious diets - Christian during Lent, Hindu, Muslim. All you have to do is remove the products prohibited by religious norms, and you’re done! With the Jews the issue is not so easily resolved. According to kashrut standards, you cannot simply exclude meat in cream sauce or certain types of meat and fish from your meal package. Religious requirements dictate that the animals from which the dishes are prepared must be killed in a special way. Some foods, such as liver, must also undergo special processing to be approved for consumption. Therefore, some Jews have a suspicion: is the beef dish that will be served as kosher actually kosher? Were all the rules followed when preparing it? But kosher meals on Aeroflot flights are always accompanied by a bilingual certificate. This document confirms that the food meets the requirements of the religious diet.
How much does a special meal cost?
Not many people know about this service, even those who fly frequently and use Aeroflot for travel. Kosher food, as well as any other food (for age, medical reasons or beliefs) is provided free of charge. Of course, in cases where the flight is long and passengers are generally fed during it. But there are also exceptions. For example, if you fly business class, even if the flight lasts a little over an hour, you will still be served food. And, of course, you have the right to choose a special menu.
What do I need to do to get special meals on board?
You must notify Aeroflot in advance that you have certain food requirements. Kosher meals will be provided to you free of charge if you notify your culinary requests 36 hours before departure. The company's website has all the phone numbers where you need to call and order one or another special menu. Many travelers will wonder what will happen if the ticket was purchased not at the box office, but on the website of an intermediary or even at a travel agency. It does not matter. There would be a ticket. It’s another matter if the flight is not operated by Aeroflot directly, but by its code-sharing partners (Russia and Aurora airlines). But if you start from Moscow Sheremetyevo airport, you will always be provided with kosher meals upon prior request. But when flying from other cities in Russia, this issue needs to be clarified with the company’s call center operators.
Is it worth ordering a special menu?
Some people are interested in the question: will they be limited in the quality or quantity of food compared to other passengers? We answer: others will envy you. Many avid travelers, knowing all the intricacies of the service for “non-standard” passengers, order a special religious menu, even if they do not observe ritual fasts. It is especially popular among those who often fly with Aeroflot. Kosher food for such people is just a nice bonus. As these travelers assure, it is the most delicious of all 16 special menus. And there really is a lot of this kosher food. You are given a large red box (in it, in addition to snacks, you will find a kosher certificate) and a separate container with hot food. You order drinks from the flight attendants just like other passengers.
Kosher meals, Aeroflot: what is included
What are the two boxes made of, which, after specifying your last name, the flight attendants hand over to the “extraordinary” passenger? If it is a morning flight, then in the hot container you will find huge onions. For lunch you will be served salmon with a side dish of cereals. It can also be poultry or beef stew with tomato sauce. They come with special side dishes - boiled rice, fried potatoes or vegetable stew. Hot food is brought in a casserole made of thick foil. Each dish is hermetically packed under vacuum film. For dessert they offer fruit, kosher pastries, and confiture. Jars of snacks and juice are beautifully arranged in a large burgundy box. On each package you can read full list products involved. The snack box is so big it barely fits on the folding table. That is why many non-Jews, knowing the tricks of the service on board, choose kosher food. Aeroflot is generally famous for the quality of food it serves to passengers, but special meals are something special. Perhaps the company's policy includes concern for such passengers, the desire that they do not feel deprived compared to others.
Where does this food on board come from?
Beef or poultry must pass through the hands of a shochet in order to be consumed by devout Jews. But how do you know if these products were bought in a regular supermarket? The last doubts are dispelled by the certificate that is provided to the passenger along with the meals, because Aeroflot itself guarantees the quality. Kosher meals ordered by the airline are prepared by PINHAS, which has a license from the Rabbinate of the Russian Federation. Therefore, you need to order a special menu 36 hours before departure so that your dishes have time to be prepared and loaded on board. You can be sure that this food will be the freshest.
Kosher food, Aeroflot: reviews
Many seasoned tourists have already figured out the tricks of service on board. Even being non-believers and completely healthy people, they order halal, meatless, non-vegetarian Hindu, diabetic or kosher food. Aeroflot does not ask for proof of your identity when accepting an order. religious affiliation or doctor's orders. You can order such meals when purchasing a ticket, even if you purchase it through a travel agency. But even then you have the right to call the call center and provide yourself with a special menu. The main thing is that it should not be later than 36 hours before departure. Reviews report that, unfortunately, there are destinations where kosher food is not provided (flights from Irkutsk, Minsk, Havana and Vilnius).
It’s hard to imagine anything worse than a hungry child who doesn’t know what to do with himself. Aeroflot offers special baby food, so you don’t have to worry about what to feed your baby on the road. The lunch box comes with a children's entertainment set. It may include coloring books, pencils and other fun little things.
Aeroflot provides its passengers with free lunches regardless of class of service. Their composition is different and depends on the duration of the flight and direction. A separate menu has been developed for children. It refers to special nutrition. This must be ordered when booking your flight.
Children under two years old with a ticket without a separate seat are provided with meals only when ordered. A child over this age with a separate seat can receive a standard lunch, the same as their parents.
For babies
Aeroflot provides milk, dry mixtures, fruit or vegetable purees for the youngest passengers. It is up to the parents to decide how appropriate it is to change the child’s usual diet. But it is worth remembering about allergies or disorders in the gastrointestinal tract when changing the brand of mixture or puree.
From 2 years
Many people have probably noticed that in Last year Aeroflot has become significantly worse at feeding short term flights domestic flights- cold sandwiches have become completely inedible, hot meals have disappeared on many flights, and liter packets of juices have disappeared from flight attendant trolleys.
I wonder what Aeroflot feeds children now? Is their nutrition just as bad as the standard one, or did “optimization” not affect the children?
To find out this, during my last flight from Simferopol to Moscow, when booking a ticket, I ordered myself a special children's meal...
I don’t think I can even talk about how surprised the flight attendant was when she clarified whether I had really ordered a special children’s meal or whether it was some kind of mistake.
“Okay,” she replied, hearing an affirmative answer and put a cardboard box with a children’s lunch and a bag of Rich apple juice on my folding table.
At this time, my neighbors were given plastic lunchboxes with a cold sandwich of a roll, a lettuce leaf and a slice of ham, and the same bag of apple juice.
Well, let's see what Aeroflot feeds the children on the way to Moscow..
Hmm, compared to adult rations, the food at least looks much richer.
And there is more of her..
On the lid of the box is a picture of a simple children's game. So that lunch isn't boring
The bun, bread and tray with cheese, meat and vegetables are sealed in cling film. Everywhere there is a marking with the date of packaging. In this case, February 1, 2015 (I was on a flight that same day, departing at 11.20 am).
By the way, unlike fresh cheese, meat and bread products, the oil turned out to be “approaching” the upper limit of the 90-day shelf life and its taste left much to be desired.
But this is a children's menu! What if the child gets sick? Fail.
Oops! What is it?
I wonder why they put a packet of ketchup on the children's menu?
Not exactly kid's food... My opinion is that it's too much in a kid's box.
Another failure.
The box contains another bag of juice, this time with pineapple, so a child flying with Aeroflot has more choice than an adult, which is good.
Interestingly, the food box has the Rich logo on it, but the juice inside the box is from a different manufacturer.
Main course. This kind of presentation is a big plus.
I’m sure any child will love star- and heart-shaped cheese. The carrots and salad were very fresh and tasty, as was the cheese and ham.
In general, the baby food turned out to be head and shoulders above the standard both in taste and quantity of food. So on the return flight I'll order it for myself instead of the standard dull sandwich...
UPD. But on way back There was no longer any ketchup and butter on the children's menu, and instead of a piece of bread and ham in the box, I found pancakes with ham and salad, a bag of oatmeal and strawberry jelly. And the neighbors still had the same cold sandwich in their lunchbox... Whatever one may say, the children's food again turned out to be both tastier and larger in quantity...
P.S. Good morning!
Subject of transportation baby food on an airplane worries all mothers without exception. An adult can understand that there is nothing to drink or eat, but you cannot explain this to a child.
Besides, you never know what you might suddenly need on the road. It is advisable to have water, formula, juices, purees, yoghurts and some medications on hand.
How do you get all this on the plane? And is it possible? Rules for transporting food products to hand luggage states that you can carry a certain amount of liquid with you. Typically about a liter. But this liquid should be packaged in plastic or tetrapack of only 100g.
You cannot take larger containers with you that are only partially filled.
On the one hand, these rules pose a serious problem, because it is almost impossible to find 100 g bottles or juices packed in paper of this volume. The standard size is 200 grams or more. But on the other hand, this is not so important. The same rules contain a note that the requirements do not apply to children's and diet food.
However, there is one “but” here. The vagueness of the wording leaves wide room for interpretation of the rules by airport staff. Therefore, parents are forced to wait in each specific case, and how will the employees inspecting luggage look at a liter package of juice or a 1.5 liter bottle of water.
They look differently. More often than not, no problems arise, but sometimes there are difficulties.
The Chinese are considered the most meticulous in this regard. There have been cases when they confiscated all the baby food, with the exception of what was needed for the duration of the flight. Sometimes they took away large containers of water. Passengers with children under 5 years of age are treated even more or less leniently at Chinese airports. But there is no concession to the needs of older children.
They are particularly loyal resort countries. In Turkey, most likely, they won’t even look into a bag with children’s things. They will do the same in Thailand. In many countries they will only ask the question “For baby” and will not meticulously check your luggage. Still, you shouldn't overuse it. Proper packaging of products will help avoid most problems.
How to bring baby food on a plane. Advice from experienced people
1. Buy baby food in minimal packaging, plastic containers or tetra packs.
2. If you are carrying fruit puree in glass, pack each jar in a plastic bag. Then, even if something breaks, it will not leak and will remain in the bag.
3. For feedings larger than 100g, bring empty, and pack food in a 100g container. On the plane you can always pour as much as you need into an empty bottle.
4. Transport all food for the baby in separate bags, which clearly indicate that they are for children. As a rule, such luggage is treated quite kindly at all airports.
5. It is better to buy special water for your child. Packaged baby water is passed everywhere without problems. Adults can be forced to open the water and drink it. The same thing is sometimes done with juice.
6. You are allowed to take a cooler bag and safely transport curds or yoghurts in it. You can get a special permit for a cooler bag in advance.
7. Before the flight, it will be useful to consult about the rules of a particular carrier company, at least by phone.
This applies to hand luggage. Baby food: a variety of formulas, cookies, dry cereals are easily transported in the main luggage. It is only important that he does not exceed the weight limit.
A separate issue is the stroller and what is in it. It seems that it has nothing to do with baby food, but this is not entirely true. Parents put all sorts of things in it. This belongings are checked less meticulously during inspection. If the child falls asleep, most often they will not even touch him. They'll let you through like that. The sight of an awake toddler also has a relaxing effect on customs officers. However, this does not apply to China. There, a sleepy child will be pulled out, the stroller will be enlightened, every last item of food will be checked, and the water will be forced to open and drink.
As for medications, everything is individual here too. In Thailand, for example, there is no such problem. Parents calmly bring all the medications the baby needs, from espumisan to Nurofen.
