British Airways' inflight food and drink is more expensive than ours, claims easyJet

Britain's biggest budget airline says its sandwiches and snacks are better value than BA's

Flying buy: an £8.20 inflight breakfast on British Airways (Simon Calder)

This morning British Airways ended its decades-old policy of providing complimentary catering to all passengers. Travellers in economy on domestic and European routes are instead invited to choose from a range of “favourites from the M&S Foodhall”. BA is now selling Marks & Spencer snacks, ranging from a £1 packet of crisps to a £4.95 “buffalo mozzarella and tomato focaccia”.

A cup of tea or coffee costs £2.30; a 330ml can of beer is £4; a quarter-bottle of wine, £4.50; and a gin and tonic, £6.

British Airways is stressing the quality of its ingredients, with the cheese for its focaccia “produced by the Mandara family in the Campagna region” of Italy.

“They use locally sourced water buffalo milk to create a soft-textured cheese with a delicate creamy taste,” says BA.

But arch-rival easyJet claims BA’s offering is overpriced, and that its inflight food provides better value. The budget airline’s own rosemary, pesto and mozzarella focaccia is 25p cheaper than BA’s.

The Luton-based airline has charged for food and drink since its very first flight in 1995. A spokesperson said: “easyJet’s business model has always been based around passengers choosing to pay only for what they want including onboard food.

“We have a wide range of food and drinks on offer from well-known brands like Hendrick's, Fever Tree, Illy, San Pellegrino and Pringles offering competitive prices and often better value than our competitors.”

As evidence, easyJet cites its bacon baguette, which is £4.50 compared with BA’s £4.75 “smoked British bacon roll”. While British Airways charges £1.75 for a Swiss chocolate bar, easyJet points out that it sells Twix or Kit-Kat for £1.20. But that claim leaves easyJet open to an accusation of not comparing like with like: BA also sells Kit-Kats for £1.20. British Airways’ coffee is 20p cheaper than its budget rival.

BA’s Chairman and Chief Executive, Alex Cruz, rejected the suggestion that his airline is turning into easyJet: “I firmly believe what we are delivering breaks the mould and sets a new standard in short-haul catering.”