While the Thanksgiving meal is traditionally eaten around a dinner table with family and a fire burning in the background, some airlines are turning the day into a marketing opportunity and serving holiday travelers a special menu.
This year, Dubai-based Emirates will put most U.S.-based airlines to shame with a Thanksgiving menu that reportedly includes ultra-fancy dishes like celeriac and pear soup, turkey leg roulade with roasted butternut, and warm apple fritters with mascarpone cream for dessert.
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These are the dishes you’ll find on these in-flight Thanksgiving menus
Such a restaurant-worthy menu is only for those traveling in the airline’s exclusive first-class; passengers in business and premium economy can also enjoy themed dishes like sweet potato soup with poached lobster, sliced turkey with cranberry jus, and, depending on the specific flights, sticky toffee pudding or berry pie.
Thanksgiving menus will be available on flights between Dubai and New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington D.C., and some of the dishes will also be available in Emirates lounges in New York, Boston, Los Angeles and San Francisco.
“Indulge your taste for both the traditional and the extraordinary this Thanksgiving on board and at our airport lounges,” the airline writes of the new menu. “Enjoy turkey with all the trimmings along with seasonal sweets on selected flights and lounges in the United States and Dubai from November 18 to 26.”
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More Thanksgiving: these carriers are also serving turkey
Several other Middle Eastern airlines known for their luxury are also offering special Thanksgiving menus.
In past years, Etihad, an Abu Dhabi-based airline, has traditionally served special Thanksgiving and Christmas menus on flights heading into the United States around the holiday period, as does its Doha-based competitor Qatar Airways.
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Even though Thanksgiving is not celebrated in the United Kingdom, the country’s flagship carrier, British Airways, will also serve a special Thanksgiving meal on its flights going to the U.S. and in lounges in American hubs for the second year in a row.
Fellow London-based airline Virgin Atlantic serves a fall menu with autumnal flavors such as butternut and truffle. However, it is not doing anything different, specifically for flights to the U.S., nor is it marketing it as a Thanksgiving menu. The dishes served include roasted duck breast with potato gratin and pumpkin girasoli pasta for first-class passengers and honey and mustard chicken with potato gratin in premium.
“Virgin Atlantic is welcoming the winter months with a brand-new menu across all cabins, anchored in modern British cuisine, seasonality and comfort. There is plenty of choice for customers, whether they’re looking to indulge or focus on wellness,” the airline says of the new menu.
Even though they should be the first to promote American food culture through their menus, U.S.-based airlines have not traditionally served anything special on their in-flight menus for Thanksgiving or the period around it — in many ways, a missed opportunity given that the gesture has been appreciated on international airlines by Americans coming home and foreigners trying something exotic.
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