Lufthansa's menu to poach BA fliers

GERMAN airline Lufthansa is serving British dishes such as fish and chips and beef wellington to passengers in a bid to lure away corporate clients from BA.

The biggest foreign carrier operating out of Heathrow has appointed a British chef for the first time in its history to create a special menu for its first and business-class customers.

Chris Staines, the 32 year-old Michelin-starred head chef of Foliage at the Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park hotel, has devised a menu of dishes for the airline as it attempts to shed its stuffy image.

Mr Staines - who trained under Marco Pierre White - has included rabbit terrine and chicken salad with stilton cream on his in-flight menu.

Lufthansa's vice-president for Europe, Dr Karsten Benz, told the Standard: "We definitely want to give the British business traveller another reason to choose Lufthansa in addition to the fact that we are the most punctual carrier at Heathrow, a quality we know the British value as much as the Germans.

"I'm sure Chris is up to the challenge. Traditionally the perception of British food in Germany is that it is overcooked and bland but times are changing and we chose Chris as we believe he is at the forefront of a new generation of young innovative British chefs."

Mr Staines said: "The taste buds respond differently to food that high up, so we've had to rethink certain dishes."

Lufthansa has increased its capacity in the UK by 15 per cent over the past 12 months.