Singapore Airlines will offer COMO Shambhala’s award-winning wellness cuisine on select Singapore Airlines flights later this year, according to a media announcement made earlier this month.

The wellness initiative is part of a longer term partnership between the airline and COMO Shambhala.

The inclusion of the wellness dishes will be progressively made available in Singapore Airlines’ Book the Cook service.

What else?

In the announcement, Singapore Airlines mentioned a wider range of initiatives for “future collaborations”, which may include “on-board amenities, as well as in-flight entertainment content relating to wellness, among others”.

This sounds like there isn’t really a plan yet.

Wellness dishes

Currently, Singapore Airlines is already offering several ‘feel good’ dishes under its ‘Deliciously Wholesome’ range, which is all the rage among airlines in recent times.

In business class, customers can now select from some of the healthier options, including:

• Marinated Free Range Chicken on a Spring Salad Bouquet with Cheese Shavings, Roasted Walnuts and White Balsamic Dressing
• Spring Salad Bouquet of Haricot Verte Beans, Artichokes, Asparagus and Tomatoes with Hard Boiled Eggs and Roasted Walnuts
• Citrus Steamed Sea Bass with Lettuce Puree, Legumes, Radishes and Sunflower Seeds in Citrus Vinaigrette
• Indian Style Pistachio Crusted Lamb Chops with Fruit Yoghurt Salsa and Mint Chutney

There are at least half a dozen of options, so just hop on to Singapore Airlines’ website to take a look. Just don’t ask me why the names are all so long.

Wellness in the air all the hype

The announcement is yet another airline-related wellness announcement, following countless similar ones including Qantas’ work with Charles Perkin Centre to design in-flight service and food on ultra-long haul services; Cathay Pacific’s most recent introduction of yoga studio in its lounge; as well as Singapore Airlines’ own announcement last year on its work with Canyon Ranch to introduce wellness cuisines and improve passenger well-being on flights.

This is certainly a good move by airlines, but often these ended up being offered in premium cabins with lesser attention being paid to cattle class. It would be a lot more heartening to see more concrete initiatives targeted at economy class, including specific meal options (and samples), as well other well-being options that will make economy class a lot more bearable for long flights.