Thai Airways spicing up its menu with signature dishes from renowned eateries
Airline sees promoting Thai food across flight classes as a growth strategy
Thai Airways International Pcl is planning to tap into Thailand’s rich cuisine heritage as a key strategy to grow its business.
The airline is promoting “street food” to impress passengers while also promoting Thai cuisine on a global scale, supporting the government’s policy to push food as a soft power.
Chai Eamsiri, chief executive officer of Thai Airways, revealed that the airline has traditionally offered a diverse range of inflight meals, mainly for first class and business class passengers. However, the airline’s future business strategy will focus on impressing passengers across all classes, encouraging repeat customers, with a particular emphasis on enhancing the food service experience.
Thai Airways has partnered with Dusit Thani Co Ltd to introduce signature dishes from renowned local eateries for economy class passengers on flights departing from Bangkok. This initiative also promotes small-scale entrepreneurs on the global stage through the “Streets to Sky” programme.
Initially, four popular dishes will be rotated monthly:
▪︎ Stir-fried chicken with holy basil and fried egg ( pad gaprao ) – by chef Tukta from Baan Yi San
This iconic Thai dish, loved by many, has been specially crafted by chef Tukta, a royal court-trained chef with nearly 20 years of experience. She has perfected this recipe to ensure it retains the fragrance of spices and holy basil when reheated onboard.
▪︎ Chicken massaman curry – by chef Tukta from Baan Yi San
Massaman curry has been ranked as the No. 1 dish in “The World's 50 Best Foods”. It is complex and requires numerous spices and ingredients. Chef Tukta has refined the recipe to maintain the authentic aroma and flavour of traditional Thai spices for passengers to enjoy.
▪︎ Goey See Mee (braised chicken noodles) – from Nam Tien Restaurant.
This Cantonese-style dish is a street food classic from Nam Tien, a legendary restaurant in Phetchaburi province, known for over 80 years for its authentic Chinese cuisine.
▪︎ Khao Soi Chicken – A dish from Lamduan Fa Ham Restaurant
Khao Soi is a northern Thai specialty, loved by both locals and tourists. This dish from Lamduan Fa Ham, a legendary restaurant in Chiang Mai province since World War II and listed in the Michelin Guide for street food, will offer passengers an authentic northern Thai experience.
These street food offerings are part of Thai Airways' initiative to enhance its inflight services and showcase Thailand’s rich culinary heritage to international travellers, Chai said.
