Droneklax

Interesting read:

http://silentrunning.tv/archives/003527.php

I would have posted it in the Emirates forum, but I figured it'd fit better here because I wonder if the same attitude is found on other Arab airlines ( Kuwait Airways, Saudi, etc..)

If true, this is truly sad.

[This message has been edited by Droneklax (edited Jan 07, 2004).]

ermdjdsj

I'm surprised anyone would expect to be able to get a kosher meal on an Arab airline, even if El Al offers Muslim meals (do they? I don't know).

IMHO, absent outside/government coercion, airlines should be able to offer/not offer whatever kind of meals they want to offer, and then let the customers decide what airline they want to fly based on the overall value perceived (routing, convenience, price, comfort, and meals, etc.) However, there should not be advance misrepresentation that they WILL have a kosher meal and then not have one.

I have no idea what other Arab nation based airlines offer in terms of meals as I deliberately avoid these airlines (and the relevant countries -- I have no need to go to them on business, and can think of many things more pleasurable to do in other places for vacations).

GUWonder

Does Air India or China Airlines have kosher meals?

Voyager27

All the meals served on El Al are kosher, and certain aspects of kosher food (eg. prohibition of pork, ritually slaughtered meat) fulfill the basic standards required for proper Halal (Islamic) food. So, to answer your question, you can get an Islamic meal on LY, simply by eating what the FA's give to you!

Obviously, these standard kosher meals might not be acceptable to the most observant of Muslims, but they are also unacceptable to the most observant of Jews, who can request a special strict Glatt kosher meal.

Keep in mind that a small but significant portion of Israel's population, even outside the West Bank and Gaza, are Israeli-citizen Arabs.

Dovster

Air India has kosher meals (and El Al has Hindu meals). I don't know about China Airlines and they don't list their meals on their website.

Having said that, I want to add that if I were in charge of Emirate Airlines (or any other Arab airline), I, too, would not offer kosher meals.

There is a tremendous amount of anti-Semitism in the Arab countries. As Moslem attacks on synagogues in Turkey, Switzerland, Argentina, France, etc., have proven this is not limited to hatred of Israel -- but of all Jews.

There is also a limit on just how much security it is possible to provide. A kosher meal would go through a lot of hands (from supplier, to delivery man, to airport handlers, to FA's) before it is eaten.

I would not feel safe eating a meal, on an Arab airline, which all these people knew was going to be eaten only by a Jew.

As the head of an Arab airline, I would not want to take the risk of having passengers poisoned by advertising that particular meals are destined to be eaten by Jews.



[This message has been edited by Dovster (edited Jan 08, 2004).]

GadgetFreak

Well, I dont care for two reasons. First, I would never fly an airline from an Arab country. Nothing against Arabs really, but after that Air Egypt crash a fwe years ago, who knows who is flying the plane. Secondly, I think any kind of meal based on religious custom is nothing more than catering (oh, a pun) to superstition, ignorance and intolerance. Onward to Omni!

B747-437B

Air India actually gets huge amounts of fifth freedom transatlantic traffic from Jewish passengers due to the perceived "better security". On some LHR-JFK flights, I've seen upto 100 KSML requests!

For the record, Air India offers the following 24 special meal options to all passengers - the most of any IATA member carrier :

HNML : Hindu Meal
GJML : Gujarati Meal
JNML : Jain Meal
MSML : Muslim Meal
KSML : Kosher Meal
ORML : Oriental Meal
SFML : Seafood Meal
CHML : Child Meal
BBML : Baby Food
AVML : Asian Vegetarian
VGML : Vegetarian Non-Dairy
VLML : Vegetarian Lacto/Ovo
SVML : Strict Vegetarian
RVML : Raw Vegetarian
DBML : Diabetic Meal
LFML : Low Cholesterol Meal
LPML : Low Protein Meal
LSML : Low Sodium Meal
LCML : Low Calorie Meal
GFML : Gluten Free Meal
PRML : Low Purine Meal
HFML : High Fibre Meal
BLML : Bland Meal
NLML : Non-Lactose Meal



[This message has been edited by B747-437B (edited Jan 08, 2004).]

J-H

may be they just offer the cheapest fares? I think they offer a great C class bargain ex JFK and LHR...

StudentExplorer

Huh?

oldpenny16

As I am allergic to shellfish, I often order a Kosher meal (no shellfish allowed in Kosher). I guess I need to know what other religions's rules forbid shellfish. Suggestions?

Thanks!

Jenbel

I never fly North American airlines. Nothing against Americans really, but after those crashes involving poorly maintained aircraft a few years ago, I don't trust any maintenance done anywhere in the United States, and although I've got no evidence to base it on, I don't trust Canadian maintenance either because it borders on the United States

Ok, I admit it, I do, but I couldn't resist!

Joking aside, Dovster makes a very good point I wouldn't have thought of. Not even poisoning - just polluting the food in such a way as to render it non-kosher would be another problem with handling kosher meals.

civicmon

I can't imagine ordering a Jewish meal on an arab airline, regardless of the clientel who may fly it. I know that there are plenty of well-off US and European Jews who travel to the ME for business, but for a ME bases business, which can be seen as pandering to the jews by offering such meals, I don't blame them for not.

GUWonder

If some significant portion of their passengers were interested in kosher meals, the "Arab" airlines should offer kosher meals.

Dovster, do you think Arabs cannot be professional enough to put aside political differences and not adulterate food products? Do you think muslims, in general, can put aside political differences and not adulterate food products?

PS. Does Malaysian, Garuda, Royal Brunei, Biman and PIA offer Kosher meals?

"There is a tremendous amount of anti-Semitism in the Arab countries. As Moslem attacks on synagogues in Turkey, Switzerland, Argentina, France, etc., have proven this is not limited to hatred of Israel -- but of all Jews."

I agree with your first line in the above paragraph. However, it is funny that you point out attacks on synagogues in non-Arab countries right after talking about Arab anti-semitism. Also, are you certain that all those above attacks were actuall committed by Arabs (or even muslims). Of course some, if not most of those, were or may have been, but right-wing groups and some "screwed weapons dealers" might have been involved in some of those attacks for anti-semitic reasons (in the case of right-wing groups including religious/nationalist extremists) or for reprisals for business deals gone wrong (in the case of "screwed weapons dealers".

There is a body of evidence that points out that the 2 Argentine tragedies may have been an attempt to target an Israeli weapons dealers in Buenos Aires. [There of course is a body of evidence that suggests the explosives and financing passed through Paraguay too leading many to believe that it was "Arabs" or muslims in the area that were involved. Of course, the mere presence of "Arabs" or muslims in an area is not proof of "their" involvement.] The Turkish tragedies were committed by ethnic turks (and kurds possibly) but not by arabs -- regardless of what the official Turkish establishment is feeding the press.

GUWonder

Muslim meals don't have shellfish, IIRC.

csb

Should we bring up a certain Egypt Air pilot?