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Set your food flight plan online
By Nick Easen
(CNN) -- Ever wondered what's cooking at 30,000 feet? You can find out with a single click, without leaving the ground. That takes you to Airlinemeals.net, which will be serving up pictures of flight fodder to its one-millionth visitor this week. Airline food can be fairly hit or miss. But now you can take a virtual bite into a banana on Phnom Penh Air or the semolina on Air Sahara before you buy your ticket. Or you may like to browse the lamb brochette, with sweet and sour sauce on Air Canada, or the smoked salmon and tabbouleh salad on Saudi Arabian Airlines. "I started the site because I thought it would be funny, that's all, really. I never knew it would be this big," founder Marco Hart told CNN. The site claims it is the first to dedicate itself purely to airline food. Now there are more than 3,300 photographs of meals from about 250 airlines online. "I'm amazed to see how many pictures I receive of something people always complain about [in terms of airline food]," says Hart. The main focus of the online discussion forums is also on dodgy fare, with people asking: "What to do when they don't like a meal," or "what is the worst you've ever encountered in a meal?" Influencing industryThe site is having an influence in the airline industry. Bad reviews on the site have resulted in either a change in products, or companies sending in photos of meals that appear more appetizing. "They ask us to replace the bad pictures with the new ones. I don't replace, I only add, so people can still see the difference," Hart told CNN. Hart believes that at least 60 percent of the pictures on the site come from business travelers. "Not only for the catering, but also for cabin decoration, seat pitch or staff attitude, for example. For them [business travelers] it has become a useful instrument," he reiterates. Hart, from Rotterdam, Holland, started the site in October 2001 after taking pictures on a series of trips to Turkey. Curiosity from friends and family soon blossomed into a Web site that encompassed photos snapped by frequent fliers. Nowadays, the vast collection of Web-based photos gives a fascinating insight into how far an airline will go to meet your gastronomic needs. Ratings range from one to 10 and you can send in your own photos as well.
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