The June 2009 edition of the Spanair in-flight magazine “Spanorama” announces an “improvement” in the airline’s in-flight service.

“To improve the service and satisfaction of all its passengers, Spanair offers a new menu to purchase on board […]”

Or to put it another way, you now have to pay for your own food and drink in economy class, just as Iberia started doing a few years ago.

However, unlike the last menu that I saw for Iberia, the prices are slightly lower.  A cup of coffee or a 0.33l  can of soft drink costs 2€ and a muffin costs 1.50€.  The bacon rolls and sandwiches are a bit pricey at 5€.  The best offer appears to be the 9€ “menu” – a warm meal with a drink, roll and dessert – available on flights longer than 2 hours.

This can cause angry scenes, as I recently discovered on a flight to Madrid, as many passengers who have booked their flights several months in advance only become aware of the new menu once they are in their seats on the aircraft.  However, complaints on my flight fell on deaf ears with the cabin crew, and the passengers were all the more confused when sandwiches and drinks were then served – free of charge – once airborne.

It appeared that the catering service in Frankfurt had loaded the wrong trolleys, but a closer inspection of the Spanair website has since revealed that flights between Germany and Spain are exempt from the new menu, meaning that for the moment I can still expect a sandwich and a drink on the way to Madrid, but will have to reach into my pocket for the connecting flight to Lanzarote.

And don’t think that you can take your own food on board that easily.  Not only are, of course, liquids banned in hand luggage, but in Madrid I witnessed passengers being forced to try every sandwich that had been detected by the x-ray scanners.

So I guess in future, the over-priced food and drink is going to be a part of flying on any economy ticket, not just with budget airlines.  Is it a way of making money out of the current security regulations?  Or is it helping keep the ticket prices low?

Either way, I wish the airlines would be honest with their passengers, and not try to sell it as an “improvement”.