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Airlines Providing gluten-free Meals

Nightingale8472

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Nightingale8472 Rookie
Nightingale8472
Posted

I just had to look this up for a trip to Italy, and thought others might also find it helpful. As always, call the airline prior to booking to make sure their policies haven't changed.

Airline, country of origin, notification policy for a gluten-free meal

Aer Lingus Ireland 24 hours

Aeroflot Russia 72 hours

Aerolineas Argentina When booking

Air Canada Canada 24 hours

Air France France 48 hours

Air India India When booking

Air Malta Malta 72 hours

Air New Zealand New Zealand 48 hours

Air Pacific Fiji When booking

Air Tahiti Nui Tahiti When booking

Air Transat Canada 72 hours

American Airlines USA 8-24 hours

Austrian Airlines Austria 24 hours

Britannia Airways UK 3 days

British Airways UK 48 hours

British Midland UK 48 hours

Cathay Pacific Hong Kong 24 hours

China Airlines China 24 hours

Continental Airlines USA 24 hours

CSA Czech Airlines Czech Republic When booking

Delta Airlines USA 12 hours

El Al Israel 24 hours

Emirates United Arab Emirates 24 hours

Eurowings Germany When booking

Eva Airways Taiwan When booking

Far Eastern Air Taiwan When booking

Finnair Finland 24 hours

Gulf Air Bahrain 24 hours

Iberia Spain When booking

Japan Airlines Japan 24 - 72 hours

Kenya Airways Kenya 48 hours

KLM/Northwest Netherlands / USA 36 hours

Korean Air Korea When booking

LAN Airlines Chile When booking

Lufthansa Germany When booking

Luxair Luxembourg When booking

Olympic Airlines Greece When booking

Qantas Australia 48 hours

SAS Sweden 24 hours

SATA Portugal When booking

Saudi Arabian Airlines Saudi Arabia When booking

Singapore Airlines Singapore 24 hours

South African Airlines South Africa 72 hours

Swiss Int'l Airlines Switzerland 72 hours

TAM Airlines Brazil When booking

TAP Air Portugal Portugal 48 hours

Thai Airlines Thailand 48 hours

Turkish Airlines Turkey When booking

United Airlines USA 24 hours

US Air USA 24 hours

Varig Brazil 24 hours

Vietnam Airlines Vietnam 24 hours

Virgin Atlantic UK 72 hours

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Lisa Mentor
Lisa
Posted

Thank you!

MaryJones2 Enthusiast
MaryJones2
Posted

Airline meals are hit or miss so always bring a little stash of food. I had a 16 hour flight once without any meals because they didn't load them and I forgot to ask the flight attendants to check when I got on the plane. That was fun. Another time I was served corn flakes for breakfast and the tray was clearly labeled gluten-free. It is mostly an issue for flights originating in the US. The gluten-free meals on flights originating in Asia and Europe are suprisingly tasty and oddly always available.

  • 2 weeks later...
abbottmama Newbie
abbottmama
Posted

Hi!

I'm traveling to Italy in May and am very nervous regarding availability of gluten-free foods.

I didn't see Alitalia listed. What airline did you use?

Has anyone flown to italy on Alitalia...and were they able to provide gluten-free food for you?

I'm looking for all the help I can get.

Thanks.

Ann

Nightingale8472 Rookie
Nightingale8472
Posted
  • Author

Hi!

I'm traveling to Italy in May and am very nervous regarding availability of gluten-free foods.

I didn't see Alitalia listed. What airline did you use?

Has anyone flown to italy on Alitalia...and were they able to provide gluten-free food for you?

I'm looking for all the help I can get.

Thanks.

Ann

I'm going to be flying to Italy on British Airways. The tour company assures me that gluten free won't be a problem (and the company rep actually did know what it meant! She gave me the definition over the phone just to be sure we were on the same page), and it was actually their third gluten-free request this year, and it was only February when I called them. They deal with a lot of tour groups, particularly school groups of children traveling without parents, and are very used to dealing with allergies and such, so when they tell me not to worry, I'm going to trust them, but still have a stash of LaraBars, just in case. We're a university level choir and all adults, but the tour company deals more with high schools and middle schools and kids that don't have parents to watch out for them when they travel. Half our group will be on Air France, but they said that they'll make sure my ticket is for BA, because their "allergen sensitive" food is better and they're a bit more reliable about it. Overall, I was really impressed with the tour agency. (If anyone's involved in a band/choir/orchestra and is considering an international tour, the company is KI Tours).

I'm also learning Rosetta Stone Italian so I'll have some basic communication ability when I'm wandering around doing touristy stuff. Great computer program, and really easy. So far, I've learned a lot of vocabulary, and I can put it together in sentences, but being able to point out "That man is wearing four hats!" is amusing but not particularly useful. The useful stuff comes in level 2 after the vocabulary in level 1. But hey, saying that a man is wearing four hats after only a week is a heck of a lot more than I could do after three years of high school French.

prabhak Newbie
prabhak
Posted

Ann, I'm very pleased to tell you that Alitalia offers gluten-free meals and that there are many gluten-free options in Italy. Unfortunately, the prevalence of persons with celiac disease is high in the Italian population; however, this makes for a much easier travel experience for those with celiac disease.

Take a look at this site, which is the Italian Celiac Association: Open Original Shared Link. On that particular website, look at this page (alimentazione fuori casa or products outside the house): Open Original Shared Link. That page of the website has a list on the left hand side that can help you search for places to eat. It is all in Italian; however, you can get help with the translation. Check local community colleges/universities for Italian language classes/programs, wordreference.com for an online dictionary (very good), and search online for the location of the various Italian Cultural Institutes in the USA.

"Dieta Senza Glutine" means a diet without gluten. La celiachia = celiac (pronounced as cheleeakeea; The ce is che and the ch is k. The i is pronounced as ee and the a is like the a in father.)

The website's English (British flag) site is being restructured currently so is unavailable. They said that one can contact them at this address: Via Caffaro 68 A/rosso - 16124 - Genova, Tel. 010 2510235, Fax 010 2721615,segreteria@celiachia.it.

Another website: Open Original Shared Link of a traveller who went to Italy and who needed to eat gluten-free. This is a third website: Open Original Shared Link.

It appears that you can also find gluten-free cards translated into Italian/English for travel purposes.

I imagine that you'll have a very delightful trip! Please post back on great gluten-free places for the rest of us wanting to travel to Italy.

munchkinette Collaborator
munchkinette
Posted

Hi!

I'm traveling to Italy in May and am very nervous regarding availability of gluten-free foods.

I didn't see Alitalia listed. What airline did you use?

Has anyone flown to italy on Alitalia...and were they able to provide gluten-free food for you?

I'm looking for all the help I can get.

Thanks.

Ann

Are you flying from the US or Canada? I'm pretty sure I was supposed to fly Alitalia last time, but it was a code share. (maybe on Continental? I can't remember.) You might want to check to see that you will actually be flying on Alitalia.

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  • 2 weeks later...
NJKen Rookie
NJKen
Posted

It appears that Continental may have discontinued serving gluten-free meals. I just flew home to the U.S. on Monday from Europe, and was not served the gluten-free meal that I had reserved. Their list of special meals has just been updated on their website, and does not include gluten-free. Ironically, the meal that I was served on my flight on the 5th was the best gluten-free meal that I've ever had on an airline.

Ken

  • 5 weeks later...
Bandit Newbie
Bandit
Posted
I just had to look this up for a trip to Italy, and thought others might also find it helpful. As always, call the airline prior to booking to make sure their policies haven't changed.

I've taken this list and made it a public spreadsheet - perhaps we can make a public information resource for everybody who needs to travel!

Open Original Shared Link (Google Public Spreadsheet)

NJKen Rookie
NJKen
Posted

I've taken this list and made it a public spreadsheet - perhaps we can make a public information resource for everybody who needs to travel!

Bandit, your list includes Continental, but they discontinued offering gluten-free meals as of March 15th.

  • 2 months later...
stef-the-kicking-cuty Enthusiast
stef-the-kicking-cuty
Posted

I have an issue here and might have missed it. But in October we're flying to Scotland for the World Championships and I have no choice but to fly with the plane that the National Team travels, or I will be dropped from the team. I just found out, that we are flying with Delta and KLM. I heard, that Delta dropped their glutenfree meals and that they don't provide them anymore? That might just be a rumor or they might have dropped it temporarily and now it might be back on. Does anybody know anything about the recent change or if they ever changed it back??? Help, please.

Also, do you know, where I could look up any glutenfree options for KLM?

Thanks, Stef

AlysounRI Contributor
AlysounRI
Posted

You are in luck.

Open Original Shared Link

Yes, you can get a gluten free meal on board.

It's under the medical diets section:

Medical diets

* Diabetic meal: rich in carbohydrates, high fibre, low fat, no sugar added.

* Low fat meal: rich in carbohydrates, high fibre, high in unsaturated fatty acids, low dietary cholesterol, low in saturated fatty acids.

* Low salt meal: no salt added, highly salted ingredients omitted.

* Gluten intolerant meal: ingredients used for these meals are verified by the manufactured label to ensure gluten is not present. Unfortunately, however, we cannot guarantee that the meal is 100% gluten free.

* Lactose intolerant meal: dairy products are omitted. Unfortunately, however, we cannot guarantee that the meal is 100% lactose free.

* Bland meal: no spices and herbs are used.

You or your team coordinator needs to "request it free of charge (up to 24 or 36 hours before departure) via

nora-n Rookie
nora-n
Posted

I flew Delta/KLM from Amsterdam to the U.S. and back in april, and the gluten free meal was booked together with the ticket, but there was none when the meals were brought out.

I ate the chicken meal minus the rice which had cheese in it, and did not get sick (and I am very sensitive) so maybe they scrapped the glute free meal because one of their dishes is gluten free?

There was no food on domestic flights in the U.S. with Delta...peanuts were available.

also, Austrian said to me last year that they only serve gluten free within Europe on their first class flights.

Anysay, I ate the scrambled egg for breafast last year in april and it was okay. (they serve hot breakfast, scrambled eggs and some more things)

Tina B Apprentice
Tina B
Posted

Last year I went to Budapest, Vienna and Prague for 2 weeks. I don't even bother calling ahead for airline food. When I did it as terrible and one time they forgot. Now I just make sure I have my gluten-free crackers, breakfast bars, dried fruit etc and if there is one of the meal choices that sound OK I will get it and pick on the parts that are gluten free. It's only one flight so it's no big deal if I miss a meal and just have fruit and snacks.

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