Traveling on Air India and not vegetarian? Oh well

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Written by Linda Hohnholz

India’s national carrier, Air India, has decided that it will now offer vegetarian meals in its economy class on domestic flights.

The airline denies any political overtures for this change in the inflight cattle-class offerings, stating it is not because meat is more expensive. Ashwani Lohani, Chairman and Managing Director of Air India, argued that “this will reduce wastage, save costs, improve efficiency, and eliminate confusion and mix ups.”

Currently, the airline is heavily burdened with a debt of US$8 billion. Given its fragile financial health, the Indian government recently has, in principal, decided to privatize and sell a stake in the ailing airline to revive it.

And besides, several airline, both in India and abroad, levy an additional charge for meals.

Air India’s recent move to serve only vegetarian meals to economy class during domestic flights caused an uproar on social media. Instead of being seen as a cost-cutting measure, critics saw it “as discriminatory and part of a wave of religious nationalism sweeping the country.”

About the author

Avatar of Linda Hohnholz

Linda Hohnholz

Editor in chief for eTurboNews based in the eTN HQ.

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