SIA elevates in-flight experience with small-batch wines, branded wellness cuisine

SIA to introduce greater wine selection and branded wellness cuisine, while extending option to pre-order meals to Premium Economy passengers

As full-service carriers continue to vie for market share in the face of low-cost competition, Singapore Airlines (SIA) looks to be on a mission to value add through in-flight dining and wellness experiences, announcing it will soon introduce an extensive selection of artisanal wine labels and new wellness cuisine by Como Shambhala.

Premium class customers can expect the widest selection of Burgundy wines in the skies, with 47 labels planned for rotation over a period of 18 months – a six-fold increase from 2018.

SIA to introduce greater wine selection and branded wellness cuisine, while extending option to pre-order meals to Premium Economy passengers

The introduction of these labels is made possible due to a new approach to sourcing wines, which saw SIA’s “wine consultants” personally visiting vineyards and wineries across different wine regions to taste and source for small-batch wines. This approach is in addition to what “the traditional way of procuring wines through tender requests”, SIA said in a statement.

According to the airline, this move will diversify its wine programme and provide greater variety for customers.

“By expanding the range of labels that SIA offers on board, we are able to ensure a well-planned rotation of wines to keep the palates of our frequent flyers continually excited. Customers can soon look forward to a new and exciting label delivered on board every two months,” said SIA’s divisional vice president inflight services and design, Betty Wong.

“During our wine consultants’ visits to the vineyards, we also actively sought out smaller maisons and domaines to bring them into the SIA family, thus allowing us to expand the depth and range of our offerings, and satisfy the rising demand for more exclusive Burgundy labels.”

The enhanced beverage programme was announced at yesterday’s World Gourmet Forum 2019, where SIA’s three wine consultants presented some of the wines that will be newly introduced on board in the coming year. This includes exclusive Grand Cru and Premier Cru labels from Faiveley, Benjamin Leroux, Domaine D’Ardhuy and Domaine de Montille.

SIA earlier this month announced it will introduce Como Shambhala’s wellness cuisine on selected flights in 2H2019. These dishes will feature seasonal ingredients. A new wellness menu featuring specially curated dishes will then be introduced across all classes, and co-developed dishes will progressively be made available in SIA’s Book the Cook service.

These latest initiatives are among the carrier’s recent efforts to enhance the passenger comfort experience. Since last year, SIA has teamed up with wellness brand Canyon Ranch to focus on wellness cuisines, rest and relaxation, and general well-being of passengers on board its three non-stop flights to the US.

At the forum yesterday, SIA also announced that Premium Economy Class customers will be able to pre-order main courses from its in-flight menu from May 1, 2019, a service that was first launched for its Suites, First Class and Business Class customers last year. With this new initiative, customers may pre-select their meal choices via the SIA website or mobile app anytime from three weeks before travel up to 24 hours before flight departure.

To give parents greater visibility and choices over the child meals in advance of travel, SIA will also enhance its Child Meal programme to enable parents to pre-order specific meals for their children from three different cuisine categories – Asian, Western and vegetarian. Parents can visit the airline’s website up to 24 hours before the day of travel to view and select the dishes planned for their flight.

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