"By far the best part of the journey has been the food,” wrote Imperial Airways passenger George Cooper to his mother. “I have feasted from London to Mandalay on foie gras and ox tongue, roast beef and spiced lamb, lime jellies and the best pêche Melba I have ever eaten.”

That was in 1936, and officially the last time anyone had a good word to say about airline food.

It’s a fact that deeply irritates Thomas Harker, executive chef with LSG Skychefs, a catering giant that serves 56 airlines from its Heathrow kitchens. He describes the airline entrée as a miraculous consequence of culinary alchemy.

“We take a restaurant dish that’s been cooked to order in a properly equipped kitchen and served by professional waiting staff,” he says, “and then we ask ourselves how the same dish can be cooked 24 hours in advance, flash chilled, reheated and served by a trolley dolly at 38,000ft, but still taste as good.”

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Fly with Singapore Airlines, Emirates or Cathay Pacific and the economy dining experience is specifically constructed to suggest dinner in a posh restaurant.

“Our ethos is that flying is still a special occasion,” says Phillip Parker, of Singapore. “We could save a shedload of cash by going down the frozen-food route, but we think one of the reasons people choose us is that they know they’re going to get a good meal.”

Take a long-haul flight with the charter airline Thomsonfly and there’s more of a “we’re all going on a summer holiday” vibe to the menu, which is overseen by the sort-of celebrity chef Aldo Zilli. Coming home is a different story.

“By then, our passengers have been away for two weeks, and they’re missing their British food,” the carrier says. “So on the flight home, we serve bangers and mash, and sticky toffee pudding.”

Surprisingly, British Airways and Virgin Atlantic have an even homelier philosophy. “Our emphasis is on comfort food,” says BA’s Victoria Madden, “the sort of wholesome naughtiness you might eat curled up on the sofa with a good film.”

She means microwave ready meals. “Yes,” admits Victoria, “but really good ones: we look at Marks & Spencer’s bestsellers and serve the same.”

The average airline spend on an economy meal is well under a fiver per head, including drinks, main meals and snacks.

“It doesn’t sound like much,” says the airline-catering expert George Banks, who has been working in the business since 1971, “but when you consider the huge numbers involved, there are economies of scale.”

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