Blimey, that doesn’t look good at all (to put it mildly...), Xandrios. That being said, the change in terms of catering (with Gate Gourmet replacing the previous provider) indeed also applies to short/medium haul services and Linate was, funnily enough, the ‘launch airport’. Also, the fact that you weren’t served the special meal in the first instance is pretty poor show and no comment about the cutlery (dear oh dear...). I must admit I’ve been quite lucky in that respect in the last few months or so (I’ve been doing Heathrow-Rome-Heathrow on a weekly basis) — they never (touch wood) failed with the special meal and I find the seafood option (accompanied by fresh fruit) fairly decent. No conspiracy theory here but I wouldn’t be surprised if they left the standard meals as they were (or, even worse, saved a few extra pennies — see the fruit, how can they possibly get away with it God only knows...), whereas they somewhat enhanced the special meals, not even because they specifically wanted to do so (I strongly doubt it, given the current financial’s status-quo), but perhaps Gate Gourmet is a tad better than the previous provider in that respect, hence my perception.

G