Emirates Celebrates Several New Vegan Options For Veganuary

Emirates is, literally and figuratively, taking Veganuary (vee-gan-uary) to new heights by adding more plant-based options to their January menu.

If you’re not familiar with Veganuary, it is the worldwide movement to encourage people to go vegan for the month of January as a way to promote and educate people about the vegan lifestyle.

Emirates has revealed that on-board requests for vegan meals increased by over 40 percent in January, resulting in the airline serving over 20,000 plant-based meals across all classes.

EMIRATES AIRLINES MENU

The airline is popular with travelers in general as they have a range of dedicated menus for medical and religious meal requirements that change monthly.

Vegan meals rank as the third most commonly requested meal so it’s no surprise the airline is particularly popular among vegan travelers.

According to the airline, it offers over 170 plant-based recipes in its kitchen to cater to its vegan customers and last month travelers voted Emirates as the Best Airline for Vegan Meals in a poll by Vegan News.

Normally, vegan meals can be pre-booked (up to 24 hours before departure) in all flights and classes via the Manage My Booking Tool however this will be the first time that Emirates is including a readily available vegan option on its menus.

VEGANUARY

Let’s take a look at Emirates’ January’s dishes:

• Misir Wat – an Ethiopian style spicy red lentil stew, served with sautéed spinach and spiced potatoes and carrots

• Shitake Ravioli served with coriander pesto and edamame

• Ancho three-bean chilli – a spiced vegan stew of peppers and beans served with corn cakes, chimichurri and tofu aioli

• Shitake fried rice served with sautéed asparagus and oyster mushrooms and Marmite sauce

FINAL STAMP

Dubai has been a major hub for those traveling, both, to the Middle East and connecting between “East” and “West.” With Emirates’ network extending to the far reaches of the earth, it’s great to see an airline embracing and adapting menus to fit tastes and dietary requirements.

Emirates serves over 110 million meals on-board each year, and I always find it interesting to see how they continue to change their menu monthly, celebrate with holiday-specific menus (e.g. Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc.), and continue to be voted the best.

As an individual that has dietary restrictions, traveling can be tough. There are very few airlines that cater to vegans but I can attest that Emirates has some vegan dishes that are amazing including their Mushroom Ravioli, and Vegetable Tagine served with couscous, and a Sweet Potato.

What is your experience with dietary restrictions on airlines? Has anyone ever eaten a vegan dish on Emirates?