Heathrow’s on-board picnics – and park pod experience

Heathrow has announced that it is the only airport in the world to provide passengers with an on-board picnic offering from every one of its restaurants. To celebrate this, the airport has brought elements of London’s iconic parks to Terminal 2 for one week only, through a sensory park pod (pictured below).

The best that London’s parks offer

Situated in Terminal 2, the park pod will incorporate the best that London’s parks have to offer, from the smell of freshly cut grass to the sound of birds chirping in the trees. When drawing inspiration for the park pod, Heathrow asked passengers to list their favourite parks, with the research revealing British passengers’ top 5 London parks as:

1. Hyde Park
2. Regent’s Park
3. Richmond Park
4. Greenwich Park
5. Victoria Park

118 outlets across 5 terminals offer on-board picnic options

Available all year round and with 118 outlets such as Caviar House & Prunier, Heston Blumenthal’s The Perfectionists’ Café and Gordon Ramsay’s Plane Food offering on-board picnic options, travellers can enjoy first class dining at 30,000 feet whenever they fly from Heathrow.

Ben Crowley, Head of Food and Beverage at Heathrow said “On-board picnics not only give our passengers the freedom to choose when they eat their meal, it also provides them with an unparalleled selection to choose from. With a range of on-board picnics available from 118 different retailers across Heathrow’s five terminals, customers are spoilt for choice. Whether they want caviar, sushi or pizza, there’s a restaurant that will package something up for them to take on board their flight.”

The perfect on-board dining experience

With the ideal park in mind, Heathrow sought to discover what the perfect on-board dining experience would be, looking at everything from timings to tastes. The data showed that more than two thirds of passengers (70.5 per cent) want flexibility about when they eat during their flight. For men, food comes first once airborne, with 34 per cent wanting their food to arrive before the plane has even reached its cruising altitude, compared to 29 per cent of women.

Italian food was crowned king of the skies, with pasta and pizza being the two most craved meals at 30,000 feet. Good old fashioned British fare came in a close second, with 19.5 per cent of passengers desiring Fish & Chips and Bangers & Mash as their in-flight meal of choice.

The top 10 dishes most desired by British passengers are:

1. Pasta (16.5 per cent)
2. Pizza (14.5 per cent)
3. Fish & Chips (10 per cent)
4. Bangers & Mash (9.5 per cent)
5. Curry (9 per cent)
6. Burrito (4.5 per cent)
7. Noodles (4 per cent)
8. Sushi (4 per cent)
9. Burgers (4 per cent)
10. Paella (3 per cent)

Sara Lom, CEO of the Royal Parks Foundation said “Millions of visitors enjoy London’s Royal Parks all year round, whether picnicking in summer, crunching leaves in autumn, making snow angels in winter or watching flowers blossom in spring. We think Heathrow’s on-board picnics are a great initiative and it’s fantastic that Heathrow has brought the best of London’s parks to Terminal 2 for passengers to enjoy this week.”

Available for just one week, the park pod will be available for travellers passing through Terminal 2 between Thursday 18^th September and Wednesday 24^th September.

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