Maiden Flight to Taipei Offers Excellent Inflight Cuisine

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On January 23, 2009, Air China’s Southeast Branch maiden Chengdu – Taipei charter flight during the Spring Festival offered passengers delectable Sichuan cuisine, including leaf wrapped rice cake, Dan dan noodles, Juntun Guokwei, boiled fish with Sichuan pickles, mushroom and asparagus rice sets, etc. The delicious inflight Sichuan cuisine was a major highlight onboard the maiden flight.

On January 22, 2009, a journalist accompanied the flight crew to Southwest Air Catering to learn about the inflight food preparation process for the maiden flight. Air China served First Class passengers smoked salmon and scallop with potato and raisin salad, accompanied by Sichuan-style main dishes such as pork with garlic sauce, sliced catfish and shrimp with crab meat sauce, and scallop with rice. Economy Class passengers were served main dishes such as boiled fish with Sichuan pickles, mushroom and asparagus rice sets, as well as assorted cold meats with laver and egg roll. All passengers on the maiden flight were served desserts, fruits and Sichuan snacks.

Air China’s Southwest Branch had taken into consideration every tiny detail during the preparation of the inflight cuisine. During the maiden flight, passengers had the opportunity to sample two different kinds of Guokwei, one was crispy brown Juntun Guokwei and the other was braised pork Guokwei, for which passengers had to use their hands to stuff the pork. Two kinds of unique tea sets were offered to First Class passengers. One was a purple-clay pot for Kung Fu tea and the other was a green flower porcelain tea cup for Sichuan-style Gaiwan tea. The catering company specially provided a separate flavoring bag for the Dan dan noodles so that passengers could add the flavoring according to the individual's preference. In view of the wintry cold weather, Air China had specially prepared Italian-style desserts that contained sufficient energy sources such as chocolate and nuts. Rib soup with Hami melon and sea snails were also offered on the maiden flight. Hami melon nourishes the lungs and sea snails are nutrient-rich foods. With a full-bodied and refreshing taste, the soup was well received among passengers from Hong Kong and Taiwan regions.

“We will adopt the same criterion as those of dedicated flights so as to maintain the food quality,” said Zhang Fushun, General Manager of Southwest Air Catering. According to the requirements stipulated by Air China’s Southwest Branch for the Cabin Service Department, the maiden flight mainly offered Sichuan delicacies that adhered to the preference of Taiwanese passengers. With years of inflight catering experience, Southwest Air Catering has undertaken several catering tasks for charter flights to Hong Kong and Taiwan. This includes providing catering services for the exclusive Taiwan-based EVA Air during the transportation of the pandas in 2008.  Hence, they are well-accustomed to the taste preference of Taiwanese passengers.

 

Picture 1.  The executive chef of Southwest Air Catering
confidently displaying inflight foods

Picture 2.  A wide range of colorful inflight food served on the maiden flight