Airline food rarely makes headlines, and when it does, it is usually for the wrong reasons. Virgin Atlantic has always been the exception that takes its catering with a wink. Its new autumn and winter menu, served from 4 November 2026 on flights departing the UK, is a good example: hearty comfort food for the cold months, a few dishes from the destinations, and a dessert shaped like a salt and pepper pot.
Upper Class: Comfort Food for the Cold Months
In Upper Class, Virgin Atlantic’s business class, a rich duck ragù with gnocchi, baby basil, rocket and hard Italian cheese joins the pre-select menu. Next to it are beef short ribs with boulangère potatoes, wilted kale, carrots and a peppercorn sauce. Fans of the buttermilk chicken burger can relax: it stays on the menu, in a brioche bun with pickles, sriracha ketchup, pepperjack cheese and crispy slaw, with Cajun-seasoned potato wedges.
Other main courses include chicken Milanese with caper cream and olive oil mash, and miso salmon with mixed rice and crisp kale. For dessert, Sir Richard Branson’s sticky toffee pudding with cream returns, together with a citrus mince pie layer slice for the festive season. On Caribbean routes, jerk chicken with spiced tomato and pepper rice joins the Upper Class menu, part of a wider set of Caribbean dishes in all cabins.
The Mile High Tea: Orville Steps Off the Table
The star of the season is small, round and made of chocolate. Wilbur and Orville, Virgin Atlantic’s salt and pepper pots shaped like little aeroplanes and named after the Wright brothers, have been a cult item on board for years. Now Orville appears in edible form, as a Black Forest creation at the signature Mile High Tea in Upper Class.
He shares the plate with an Earl Grey cheesecake and a warm scone with clotted cream and jam. The savoury side gets a new look as well: the classic finger sandwiches make way for a Caprese sea salt focaccia roll and an open seeded baguette with beetroot houmous, fig and feta.
Premium and Economy
In Premium, grilled chicken in a cashew satay sauce with coconut rice and green beans and a dill-roasted salmon with smashed minted peas join the menu, and the truffle macaroni cheese with wild mushrooms returns. Between meals there are chocolate bars from Joe & Seph’s and biscuits from Cartwright & Butler. In Economy, the main meals get bigger portions, with dishes such as chicken and woodland mushrooms in a creamy sauce, or tomato and basil pasta with baby mozzarella.
On the flights to Seoul and Phuket, a regional snack selection adds mango sticky rice flower bites from Kin Dum and sriracha rice chips.
Drinks: More Than Wine and Whisky
Angel’s Envy bourbon joins the bar in all cabins and on all routes, and a MOTH Piña Colada adds a tropical touch to Upper Class on Caribbean flights. British producers stay at the centre of the Upper Class list, with a Chapel Down Chardonnay from Kent, Camden Hells beer, a sparkling cider from Gravity Theory and Burnt Faith British Brandy from Walthamstow in East London.
For those of us who do not drink alcohol, the more interesting news is further down the list. The alcohol-free line-up in Upper Class gets a refresh: the Pentire Paloma returns, a sparkling lychee and rose bubble tea from DotDot’s joins the flights to Phuket, the Maldives and Seoul, and Twinings’ Refresh Sparkling Tea becomes part of the Mindful Sips range. At breakfast, Unrooted Super Greens shots complete the Upper Class selection. It is good to see an airline treat alcohol-free drinks as more than an afterthought.
The Clubhouse at Heathrow
The new season starts on the ground. In Virgin Atlantic’s Clubhouse at London Heathrow, Sodexo Executive Chef Iain Page, a winner of Chef of the Year at the Cateys, has created a seasonal à la carte menu served at the table. It includes a French onion soup with Lincolnshire Poacher cheese, a Thai vegetable Massaman curry as a nod to the new Phuket route, and Korean fried chicken bao with kimchi and gochujang for Seoul. For dessert, there is spiced apple and pear crumble with custard, or a chocolate tart with orange crème fraîche.
Virgin Atlantic, Autumn/Winter menu on flights departing the UK from 4 November 2026 · virginatlantic.com
Roger Hohl
Roger Hohl has been at the helm of Luxvisor since 2006. From his base in Switzerland he travels to test what the luxury travel industry promises, from the seat at 40,000 feet to the last course of a tasting menu, and writes about it with an independent eye.
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