British Airways suspends business class meals at London City after catering switch goes wrong

British Airways has been forced to suspend business-class catering on its BA Cityflyer flights from London City airport for the whole of July, after a bungled handover between catering suppliers left the carrier unable to load full meals onto its aircraft.

The airline confirmed this weekend that its City-based subsidiary had pulled hot food and full meal service from business-class cabins throughout the month, apologising to affected passengers and promising that full onboard catering would return “in the coming days”. For the thousands of professionals in finance, law and consultancy who rely on the airline’s short hops from the Docklands, it has meant a month of boarding without the meal they paid a premium for.

What went wrong

The problems began when BA Cityflyer switched caterers at the start of July, replacing Dubai firm Dnata with Gate Gourmet, part of Swiss group gategroup, in a move executives had billed as one of their five most important decisions of the year.

Gate Gourmet was due to take over the east London kitchen previously run by Dnata when the contract changed hands. Bureaucratic delays meant the new supplier could not gain access to the facility until last week. Executives attempted to truck meals in from Gate Gourmet kitchens further afield, but these were spoilt in transit during the recent heatwave, according to sources familiar with the situation.

Rather than serve substandard food, the airline suspended the business-class meal service altogether. Dry catering, including crisps, snacks and drinks, remained on board, which meant economy passengers, who receive a complimentary drink and snack on Cityflyer services, were unaffected.

To soften the blow, the airline handed out £20 pre-paid credit cards so business-class passengers could buy food in the terminal before departure, alongside Avios points as a gesture of goodwill.

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A spokeswoman for British Airways said: “Providing our customers with the high-quality catering they both deserve and expect is extremely important to us. When it became clear we couldn’t consistently deliver that standard during the transition to a new catering provider at BA Cityflyer, we took the decision to temporarily suspend part of the onboard service.

“We apologised to customers impacted and provided gestures of goodwill, including vouchers to purchase food ahead of travelling, as well as Avios points. Full catering is set to restart in the coming days.”

Gate Gourmet did not comment.

BA Cityflyer is a short-haul mainstay for corporate flyers. It operates 20 Embraer E190 aircraft, predominantly from London City airport in the east of the capital, and runs more than 180 departures a month to Edinburgh alone. The disruption lands at an awkward moment for the carrier, which has been reporting record demand for short-haul business class on its European network.

The subsidiary also carries a healthy leisure trade, flying to Ibiza, Barcelona, Venice and as far as Thessaloniki in Greece, where a return business-class ticket next weekend would cost £650, according to the airline’s website.

Travellers booked in business class from London City in the coming days should check the onboard service before relying on it, and may want to build in time to eat at the airport, which is adding a luxury pre-flight lounge from 2027. With full catering due back imminently, the episode should prove a short-lived irritation, but it is a reminder that even flagship suppliers can stumble when contracts change hands.