The Airlines Serving the Best Food in the Sky, Ranked
Somewhere between bad movies and recycled air, airplane food earned itself a decades-long reputation it probably didn’t deserve. But lately, that reputation is getting a serious makeover. Some airlines are now serving dishes that would hold their own in any decent restaurant, and passengers are very much noticing.
So which carriers are actually worth booking for the food alone?
Turkish Airlines: The One With an Actual Chef on Board
Turkish Airlines took home the Best Business Class Catering award at the 2025 Skytrax Awards, and it is not hard to see why. The Flying Chef program puts real culinary professionals on long-haul flights, with each chef required to have at least three years of experience in five-star hotels, cruise ships, or gourmet restaurants.
Passengers consistently rave about the coal-fired kebabs, grilled seabass, and fresh baklava. Around 85% of ingredients are sourced from local producers across Türkiye, which gives every dish a sense of place you rarely find at altitude.
Singapore Airlines: The One Passengers Pre-Plan Their Meals Around
Ask any frequent flyer about Singapore Airlines and the first thing they mention is the food. The Book the Cook service lets passengers pre-select gourmet meals weeks before their flight, covering everything from Western classics to Indian regional dishes and Singaporean favorites.
The cult favorite is the Lobster Thermidor, cooked in rich cream sauce with Cognac, Dijon mustard, button mushrooms, and herbs. Social media is full of passengers who plan entire trips just around what they are going to pre-order.
Qatar Airways: The One With Caviar in Business Class
Qatar Airways won the Best Catering Award for 2024, with judges impressed by the taste, freshness, and presentation across all cabin classes, including economy. What really got people talking was when the airline introduced caviar service in business class, starting on 13 routes including London, New York, Paris, and Singapore.
On their long-haul QSuite routes, Qatar serves up to nine courses. Nine. In the sky.
Emirates: The One That Runs a Flying Restaurant
Emirates prepares 215,000 meals daily across 490 flights, using 2,200 recipes and a team of 1,400 chefs at its Dubai catering facility. Premium cabin passengers eat from Royal Doulton china with Robert Welch cutlery, and the ingredients are anything but standard.
Emirates sources over 15,000 kilograms of Persian feta from Australia’s Yarra Valley each year, and its olive oil comes exclusively from a carbon-neutral Italian producer. Passengers still talk about the Iranian caviar service like it genuinely changed their lives.
Japan Airlines: The One That Makes You Want to Fly Just to Eat
Japan Airlines debuted a new A350 First Class featuring Michelin-starred dining, and the reviews have been nothing short of breathless. First class passengers are served caviar and champagne alongside immaculate Japanese multi-course meals built around seasonal ingredients.
Passengers who try the Japanese meal option, featuring simmered wagyu beef and traditional pickles, describe it as a meal they would book an entire flight for. That says it all.
Delta: The Burger That Surprised Everyone
Among US carriers, Delta pulled off something genuinely unexpected. After launching a partnership with Shake Shack in late 2024 exclusively from Boston, Delta served over 10,000 burgers in the first three months alone.
The burgers now account for nearly 15% of the roughly 4,500 hot meals prepped every day at Delta’s Atlanta flight kitchen. It is not exactly caviar, but in the world of domestic US flying, a perfectly assembled ShackBurger at cruising altitude hits very different.
Airline food has come a long way from the soggy chicken and mystery pasta of the past. Whether it is a flying chef finishing your dinner tableside or a perfectly sauced lobster you booked three weeks in advance, the sky is genuinely becoming one of the more interesting places to eat right now.
