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While business class (Club Europe) passengers may enjoy a full English breakfast on morning short-haul flights, British Airways is trimming them back from its shortest flights. Last September, British Airways trialed its new continental breakfast on its short-haul flights within the British Isles and to continental Europe. The airline hailed the trial as “successful.”
Being based in an island nation, British Airways operates a large number of short-haul flights to destinations across the British Isles (the UK, Ireland, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islands) and across to mainland Europe. It also operates flights across the island of Great Britain, including flights from London to Manchester, 200 miles away. Here is what to know about British Airways’ English breakfast and why it’s dropping them from some of its short-haul flights.
British Airways Trimming Back Full English
When it comes to airplane food, passengers have divergent opinions. Catering in the skies has improved over the decades, although some people have an aversion to the meals served in a hot foil packet in a confined space. Upgraded meals in the skies are one of the key selling points of airlines advertising their premium fare options. Airlines also typically offer meals inspired by their home country.
For those flying with British Airways, many might expect the airline to offer the 35,000-foot hot foil packet counterpart to a full British breakfast on a morning long-haul flight. However, The Sunday Times has reported, “British Airways business-class passengers flying short-haul might not be happy to hear that the airline will axe its hot breakfast service on eight of its shortest routes from this Wednesday.” These changes went into effect on January 7th.
The publication adds that instead of being served the full English that Club Europe passengers have become accustomed to, the flight’s breakfast meal will be continental. It will be a fruit plate, yogurt, and pastry. Those in the economy can expect a bottle of water and a basic snack, like a biscuit or pretzels. This said, passengers will be able to book a limited number of hot dishes on short-haul flights for an extra fee.
The Short Haul Flights Affected
The changes to the meal plans will affect eight short-haul flights from British Airways’ primary hubs in London. The Sunday Times names these as routes to Amsterdam in the Netherlands, Belfast in Northern Ireland, Paris in France, Dublin in Ireland, the Channel Island of Jersey, and the northern English cities of Manchester and Newcastle. Other short-haul flights from London to Europe have not been affected. Even though Manchester is the busiest airport in the UK outside of London, BA only operates a single flight there (from London-Heathrow).
All of these routes have a flight time of around an hour from London. Flights to Scotland will not be affected, so those getting on the morning flights to the northern third of the island of Great Britain can still enjoy a full English breakfast. This is even though the flight times to the major Scottish cities of Glasgow and Edinburgh are about the same as the flight time to the two main Irish cities (Belfast and Dublin).
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British Airways profile (per British Airways) |
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|---|---|
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Number of destinations |
Over 200 |
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Fleet size |
250 mainline aircraft (over 290 with subsidiaries) |
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Main hubs |
London-Heathrow, London-Gatwick, London-City (with BA CityFlyer) |
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Parent company |
International Airlines Group (IAG) |
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IAG subsidiaries |
Aer Lingus, Avios Group, British Airways, Iberia, LEVEL, Vueling |
As a side point, flights to Dublin in the Republic of Ireland are functionally domestic flights from the point of view of passengers, as the UK and Ireland both belong to the Common Travel Area, a sort of British Isles’ counterpart to the Schengen Zone in continental Europe. No border checks are present when traveling between Ireland and the United Kingdom.
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Why British Airways Is Cutting The Meals
British Airways is framing the breakfast cut and transition, not as a cost-cutting measure, but as a measure that allows crew to spend more time with passengers. Some don’t buy that explanation. The Sunday Times quoted Rob Burgess, editor of the frequent-flier site Head for Points, as saying, “If you go back 20 years, British Airways was offering a free cooked breakfast to an entire Boeing 757/767 on its ‘Super Shuttle’ services, even from London to Manchester. It’s not about lack of time to do the service.”
A British Airways spokesperson told The Independent, “Following successful trials in September, we’re updating the meal options on our shortest flights. Due to the limited time available on these journeys, serving and enjoying a hot breakfast has become challenging.” The spokesperson explained that offering a Continental breakfast on these routes would “ensure a more comfortable experience.” They added that hot breakfast will continue to be available on the vast majority of BA’s short-haul flights.
It should be noted that British Airways’ breakfast offerings remain superior to its Air France and Lufthansa mainline counterparts. Those airlines consider a plate of cold cheese and meat as an acceptable business-class breakfast. Although this may belie more of a cultural difference than anything else. Traditionally, breakfasts in France and Germany are cold, unlike hot bacon and eggs, beans on toast, or similar breakfasts found in Britain.
British Airways’ Full British Breakfast
Frustratingly, British Airways does not seem to itemize its full English breakfast served to Club Europe passengers on its website. Instead, it says rather generically, “In Club Europe we serve a selection of delicious meals including a full British breakfast, lunch, traditional afternoon tea and dinner. Alongside your meals, we offer a range of hot, cold and alcoholic drinks.” Breakfast may vary by flight and over time to some degree, although passengers don’t get a choice of how they like their eggs.
But from frequent-flyer menus and passenger reports, it typically includes fried or scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, possibly cooked mushrooms, and/or tomatoes. There is often a vegetarian alternative, like an omelette. The tray service also typically includes yogurt and warm croissants or the like. The full British breakfast varies regionally across the British Isles, although its core is typically bacon, pork sausages, eggs, toast, often with tomatoes (often fried), mushrooms, and baked beans.
Scottish versions tend to be heartier and more varied with black pudding, lorne sausages, and tattie scones. Welsh breakfasts are typically very similar to English breakfasts (sometimes with laverbread), although English breakfasts can vary regionally. Across the Irish Sea, Irish breakfasts are often distinguished by puddings and bread. They typically come with black pudding and white pudding; beans are not typically included, while toast may be replaced with soda bread or potato bread.
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Flag Carriers Reflect Local Cuisines
The British may have a reputation for bad food, while others, like the French and Italians, have reputations for good cuisine. But with breakfasts, the British Isles stand out. Breakfasts are typically lighter, quicker, and often cold on the mainland, as opposed to a full cooked breakfast. French breakfasts tend to focus on bread, butter, jams, and pastries. In Spain, breakfasts tend to be bread with olive oil, tomato, butter, churros, ham, and cheese.
Italy’s breakfasts are typically pastry-based. Germany typically has bread rolls, cheese, cold cuts, boiled eggs, but not hot food. Despite the cold of winter, Scandinavians also tend to go for cold breakfasts centered around bread, cheese, cold cuts, smoked fish, and boiled eggs. There is a greater emphasis on protein and savory breakfasts in Central and Eastern Europe, with bread, eggs, sausages, and cheese, but these are not at the level of cooked breakfast meals that the British, Irish, and Americans are acquainted with.
The flag carriers of these respective countries and regions tend to reflect the local cuisines of their home countries. This explains why British Airways is expected to provide a hot bacon/sausage/egg-based meal for breakfast, even on short-haul flights. Likewise, the UK’s other full-service carrier, Virgin Atlantic, also provides a British-style breakfast, especially for Upper Class passengers. So does Ireland’s Aer Lingus, although with the Irish breakfast variety.
British Airways To Continue Offering British Breakfasts
While it’s feasible to serve full breakfasts on very short-haul routes, it’s also understandable why British Airways would scrub them from some of its shortest flights in business class. Even so, many of BA’s customers may be a little disappointed as they expect their full British breakfast in the morning on their way to another part of the British Isles or across the English Channel.
Catering to its British image, BA will continue to provide cooked British-style breakfasts on the vast majority of its routes for business class passengers. But it seems that these breakfasts are not enough to earn it a place on Skytrax’s 2025 list of top ten Best Business Class Onboard Catering airlines. The top spot went to Turkish Airlines, followed by Qatar and China’s Hainan Airlines. BA’s competitor, Virgin Atlantic, did squeeze onto the list, coming tenth best.
In the United States, Americans are accustomed to similar breakfasts, although American breakfasts tend to favor scrambled eggs and include hash browns and sometimes pancakes, French toast, and syrup, while omitting black pudding. The British may enjoy a cup of tea with milk, while Americans often prefer black coffee. These breakfast styles are mostly reflected by the national carriers, with Delta and United often offering more American-style breakfasts.
