Vistara calls its vegetarian meals “Hindu” and its non-vegetarian meals “Muslim”
A social media user, who is a journalist as per her bio, posted a screenshot showing a Vistara Airlines menu labelled as offering both “Hindu” and “Muslim” meals. Aarti Tikoo Singh slammed the airline for “communalising” food options and sarcastically questioned whether they were segregating passengers based on their religious identity. She tweeted, “Hi @airvistara, why is a vegetarian meal labelled as a ‘Hindu meal’ and a chicken meal as a ‘Muslim meal’ on your flights? Who decided that all Hindus are vegetarians and all Muslims are non-vegetarians? Why are you imposing food options on people? Who authorised this? Now you are also going to communalise vegetables, chicken and passengers on one flight? I was so shocked by this behaviour that I ordered both meals to defy your order,” she wrote, sharing a screenshot of her ticket which showed both a “Hindu meal” and a “Muslim meal”.
Singh’s post quickly went viral and sparked a wave of reactions on social media. Users were divided in their responses, with some explaining the reason for the tags, while others urged the airline to clarify the matter.
Several users pointed out that these meal codes are not unique to Vistara, but are part of an industry-wide standard. They noted that the International Air Transport Association (IATA) sets these standardized meal codes, which are used across the aviation industry to ensure consistency and efficiency in catering to the various dietary requirements of passengers.
One user commented: “Have you not travelled for a while? This is nothing new; international flights also use similar classifications. Instead of writing halal, they put ‘Muslim food’; similarly, a ‘Hindu vegetarian meal’ might include onion and garlic, while a ‘Jain vegetarian meal’ would exclude these ingredients.”
Sanjay Lazar, CEO, Avialaz Consultants, explained, “In general aviation parlance, an Indian Meal (HNML) is NOT necessarily a vegetarian meal; it could be a non-vegetarian meal that is not halal. Similarly, a Muslim Meal (MOML) is a non-vegetarian meal that is halal.”
Sanjiv Kapoor, a seasoned aviation expert and former CEO-designate of Jet Airways, also commented on the controversy and said, “These are standard international meal codes used worldwide on GDS-based airlines, not just Vistara. However, I think IATA or whoever is responsible should consider updating these somewhat outdated and sometimes puzzling meal codes.”
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