British Airways introducing buy on board by the back door

Regular readers will have seen my various articles recently on the major cuts to British Airways in-flight service, eg here and here and here.

Long-haul travellers in World Traveller (economy) have born the brunt.    We have seen the loss of pretzels, removal of cheese and biscuits, removal of the ‘tuck box’ and – on longer flights – the complete removal of the second meal, to be replaced by a fun-size Mars Bar.  Seriously.

Now we have the next move.

From 23rd August, Pringles, M&Ms and Maltesers will be available to purchase on all long haul flights.

This was reported on Flyertalk by a BA cabin crew member, who I have met and trust, and has been confirmed by BA on Twitter.

There are a few exceptions – anyone know why Russia or Iran would have a problem with M&Ms?  (EDIT: see the comments, someone does know.)  The mid-haul routes served by the ex-BMI A321 aircraft are also excluded.

Technically, this is not ‘buy on board’ catering.  This is because they are being sold from the duty free trolley, although an announcement will be made in the cabin that they are on the trolley and available for purchase.

I very much doubt, however, that they will be sold at a ‘tax free’ price, ie 16.7% cheaper than the UK retail price.  I would bet on twice the price of your local Tesco Express.  Do let me know if you find yourself down the back after 23rd August ……

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