Lufthansa offers astronaut’s meals on long-haul flights
Space enthusiasts have something to look forward to till the end of August as Lufthansa offers its Business Class passengers on long-haul flights departing from Germany the opportunity to experience what life is like in outer space – at least in culinary terms.
Passengers will have the chance to enjoy one of the menus that German born astronaut, Alexander Gerst, and his crew will also be receiving onboard ISS as special highlights, Chicken Ragout with Mushrooms.
A statement by Hakeem Jimo, said ‘For those passengers from Nigeria that would not like to experiment with Space Food, Lufthansa still offers Jollof Rice on its flights leaving Nigeria – in Business as well as Premium and Economy Class.
“Earlier this year, the LSG Group, Lufthansa’s catering and hospitality expert, custom-developed and supplied the “bonus” food for German ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst, who started the “Horizons” mission early June. In addition to the “usual” space food consumed by the astronauts aboard the ISS, “bonus” meals are consumed on special occasions by the crew as a team event to foster team spirit and motivation during their six-month stay in space.
“Anything is possible” was the mantra of the LSG Group Culinary Excellence Team as they collaborated with the European Space Agency (ESA) to provide the bonus dishes for the Horizons mission. With particular consideration to the unique requirements of space food, which will be consumed in zero gravity, they developed six special, innovative and delicious meals which were specifically requested by Alexander Gerst. The collection of meals includes typical dishes from the astronaut’s home region, Swabia, such as Maultaschen and Spätzle, and his preferred international dishes, such as Chicken Ragout with Mushrooms. In order to ensure that the meals fulfilled the specific health and safety requirements of the mission, the LSG Group team needed to design them to be low sodium and able to maintain a shelf life of two years.
The Lufthansa Group is the world’s largest aviation group in terms of turnover as well as the market leader in Europe’s airline sector. The Group strives to be the “First Choice in Aviation” for its customers, employees, shareholders and partners. Safety, quality, reliability and innovation are the prime credentials and priorities of all its business activities.
The Lufthansa Group is divided into the three strategic areas of Hub Airlines, Point-to-Point Business and Service Companies. The Group’s network carriers, with their premium brands of Lufthansa, SWISS and Austrian Airlines, serve its home market from their Frankfurt, Munich, Zurich and Vienna hubs. With its Eurowings brand, the Group also offers short- and long-haul point-to-point services in the growing private travel market. And with its service companies, which are all global market leaders in their individual industries, the Lufthansa Group has found success in further areas of the aviation business.
Lufthansa Group airlines serve 343 destinations in 103 countries, offering 15,415 weekly frequencies. The current fleet is comprised of 728 aircraft (as of December 2017) and the Group will continue to take delivery of new aircraft until 2025. In 2017, the Lufthansa Group employed around 130,000 personnel, welcomed 130 million passengers aboard its flights and generated sales of around EUR 35.6 billion.
The Lufthansa Group is headed by the five-member Executive Board. Carsten Spohr is Chairman & CEO; Thorsten Dirks is in charge of Eurowings and Aviation Services; Harry Hohmeister bears responsibility for the Commercial Management of the Group’s Hub Airlines and Airports; Ulrik Svensson is the Head of Finance and IT; and Dr. Bettina Volkens is in charge of HR and Legal Affairs.
