Virgin Australia: Business class food service virg’n on disgusting

Forgive the pun. I travelled on two Virgin Australia flights yesterday in Business Class – ADL-MEL-SYD.

The flights were very pleasant, departed on-time , or indeed slightly ahead of time and arrived early. One of the strange effects of the dearth of domestic flights precipitated by COVID-19 and unpredictable border closures.

I knew food and beverage would be limited, although not as hideous as the cup-of-noodles incident when Virgin Australia was in administration. But I didn’t expect it to be quite as dire as it was.

Wine

We were back to the ‘red or white’ wine option on one flight, although on the other, the ‘Cabin Lead’ (don’t get me started on that awful management consultant speak – what happened to ‘Purser’) the grape varieties offered were outlined. But don’t expect to see an actual bottle, or have it poured at your seat.

Food

That heading is an overestimation of what was on offer. The box contained a bunch of pre-packaged ‘snacks’ of which only the ‘JAX’ snacks were edible due to a predominance of MSG. The Lavosh Bites made cardboard more appealing – despite the lashings of the Beerenberg relish.

The Chocolate brownie thingies were OK – but too rich for me. If this was your only chance to eat during a long day – you would have been sorely disappointed.

2PAXfly Takeout

This is another timely reminder to wear your seatbelt when seated. Holding you close to your seat will protect you from the sort of injuries sustained on this flight, when unsecured passengers flew to the ceiling of the aircraft, and then came crashing down once the ‘drop’ ceased.

The hope will be that this is an anomaly – a ‘freak accident’ in casual parlance. If it is a systemic error either mechanical or electronic, then this is a larger concern for the airlines that fly Boeing Dreamliner 787 aircraft. Let’s hope it isn’t. If it is, it will pile on the woes to Boeing’s existing stack.

All I can say is thank goodness for the ham, cheese and tomato toastie I had at the brand new Virgin Lounge in Adelaide.

A rebirth of the business class service is due next month – or even at the end of March. Lets just say it won’t come too soon.

I’ll have a full review of the lounge for you (I hope) later this week.