Vegan business class passenger served single banana for breakfast on Japan Airlines flight

The passenger was surprised after realising the banana was the entire meal service. Photo / @kris_chari, Flyertalk

A business class traveller who ordered a vegan breakfast for a flight to Japan was surprised to receive a single banana with a pair of chopsticks.

Many travellers would be outraged to receive a single piece of fruit for breakfast, especially after paying business class prices, however, the traveller took it in their stride.

“Before take-off today, my flight attendant confirmed that I ordered VGML (Vegetarian Vegan Meal) and that my breakfast was a banana, by which I mistakenly assumed she meant that breakfast included a banana,” they write on aviation forum Flyertalk.

The passenger was flying from Jakarta, Indonesia with Japan Airlines and was served the fruit shortly after the flight departed.

“When she served the banana after take-off, I thought it was just an underwhelming appetiser, but it was in fact the entire meal service!” they wrote.

On the bright side, the passenger said it was “a really good banana” and “one of the best” they’d eaten in a while but had to admit “it seems more appropriate as a snack”.

They added that the presentation was delightful too, writing that it was ‘cute’ of the crew to serve the banana with chopsticks.

The lunch service was slightly more promising; a “barely seasoned spaghetti”. However, it was the banana breakfast that was the source of most surprise.

Any vegan traveller knows this is not an unusual occurrence.

In 2022, an Air Canada passenger shared a now TikTok video about requesting a vegan meal but being served a bottle of water.

Fortunately, Miriam Porter was later served a makeshift meal a flight attendant assembled from leftover business class trays.

“Shout out to the kind flight attendant that got me fruit & dinner rolls from business class,” she wrote in the video.

“I love fruit but also like entire meals!”

@thekindtraveler

shout out to the kind flight attendant that got me fruit & dinner rolls from business class ❣️ #aircanada #vegan #plantbased #veganfortheanimals #airplanefood #aircanadafail #toronto #frankfurt #hungry #airplanemode #keepsmiling

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Again in 2020, a vegan traveller made headlines after requesting a vegan meal on a British Airways flight but was served cheese and butter; products that are not vegan.

Taking to Twitter, the passenger, named Mark, said: “15 years ago I would have expected it, but you’re *still* serving cheese and butter with VGMLs at a time when veganism has never been so popular and well catered for elsewhere.

“What happened to quality control and crew awareness?”

Japan Airlines has been contacted for comment.