China Southern Airlines to improve inflight meal after social media backlash

China Southern Airlines said on Tuesday they will urge catering companies to improve the meal after a social media post called an inflight meal provided by the airline of being weird and shabby went viral.

The post by a delicacy and travel blogger named Fengge Wangming Tianya on Sina Weibo on Saturday said that the onboard meal he just had consisted of just four steamed buns, one slice of cabbage and a small packet of pickled mustard, with pictures of the meal attached. He said he was "surprised" when he opened the meal box, adding that it was the "most bizarre" flight meal he ever had for years.

The post soon garnered the attention of netizens, with more than 25,000 likes as of Tuesday. Many said such a meal was "too shabby", and some questioned the meaning of the mere slice of cabbage.

The original poster further explained on Tuesday that the meal box was from a flight from Hohhot, Inner Mongolia autonomous region, to Xining, Qinghai province, and that the taste of the buns, which were made with different side ingredients, was "actually not bad". He said he was in no way trying to accuse or demean the airline or the Chinese cuisine.

When contacted by Shangyou News, a service worker at China Southern Airlines explained that the meal in discussion was actually the "Chinese snack" meal package, and the one slice of cabbage was meant to cover the buns, as it helps reduce the loss of water when the buns were being reheated in microwave ovens, so that the buns would have a better taste.

"Regarding the complaint on the quality of the meal (of being shabby), we would supervise catering companies to improve the product to better satisfy the needs of different passengers," the service worker said, adding that there are different meals available on different routes.