MALAYSIA — Malaysia Airlines is facing backlash from passengers after serving them pre-packed food instead of freshly prepared inflight meals. This was after it ended its contract with inflight caterer Brahim's Food Services.

The carrier ended its 26-year agreement with the food catering company last Friday (Sept 1), without having found an alternative catering provider. 

On the topic of its caterer for inflight meals, the airline wrote in the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section of its website on Aug 30 that it would be offering alternative food-and-beverage options while “actively exploring a new service provider”.

The airline issued an apology for the recent flight disruptions that occurred, where about 20 per cent of its flights experienced delays last Friday due to problems with the inflight catering, it said in a statement to financial publisher The Edge Malaysia.

“The airline experienced coordination issues that we are actively addressing with relevant partners,” it told the publication.

‘BRING YOUR OWN MEAL’ POLICY?

Some of the airline’s passengers have been expressing their disappointment and anger on social media on the recent change.

Posting a picture of some packaged bread, cakes, biscuits and an apple, Mr Amirul Rahman, who was taking a business class flight from Indonesia to Malaysia, complained about the inflight meal on Facebook last Sunday. "After a few chats with the stewardess complaining that I was starving and didn't have breakfast, only then I got this meal box," he wrote.

In another post featuring vegetarian cup noodles, he wrote: "Fine dining at its finest. Kudos to the stewardess Ayun, all of us get to eat these vegetarian Maggie cups."

Another passenger, who took a business class flight from Malaysia to Vietnam, was apparently served a similar meal. 

A Facebook user said that when she asked her friend how was his meal on his flight, he told her: “They give me Gardenia, I’ll be happier.” Gardenia is a brand of sliced bread sold in supermarkets.

On Malaysia Airlines’ FAQ webpage, it states that pre-packed meals are offered to passengers on shorter flights and consist of "bakery items, sweets, biscuit and drinks depending on travel class and flight duration".

On longer flights, passengers are offered "revised meals".

An online user posted on X (formerly Twitter) saying that the reduced meal quality decreases the attractiveness of choosing to fly via Malaysia Airlines. “One of the reasons to pay more for Malaysia Airlines was the nice inflight meals... Tough to justify the price now.”

Another X user “Tsunamiz” said: "Looks like Malaysia Airlines is upgrading its inflight menu to BYOM (Bring Your Own Meal)! Talk about taking food delivery to new heights!"

The comment was a jab at Malaysia Airlines stating on its webpage that it encourages passengers with dietary requirements or medical conditions to bring their own meals on board the flight, in light of the change in meal offerings.

Malaysia newspaper New Straits Times later wrote on Monday that the catering blunder was dubbed as the "Bring-Your-Own-Food" fiasco.

The airline posted on Facebook on Monday that it is still providing inflight meals.

On Wednesday, it updated its FAQ section to say that flights to Japan, the Middle East, New Zealand and the United Kingdom are not affected by the meal adjustments while changes to inflight food apply to other routes.

"Passengers on these adjusted routes will be kept informed via email and SMS. We recommend updating your contact details through 'My Booking' on our website, to ensure you're always in the loop with our latest updates," it added.

A source close to Malaysia Airlines told New Straits Times that the “bring your own meal” statement was “taken out of context” by some news media and that it “does not mean that the airline would not provide (inflight) meals to its passengers”.

"This is a full-service carrier and a national carrier. It's not a budget airline where most of them don't allow passengers to bring their own meals because they sell their own food and beverages on board their flights," the insider added.

TODAY has reached out to Malaysia Airlines for comment.