Emirates announced the decision to withdraw the “Hindu meal” option from its menu on Tuesday, July 4. Unsurprisingly, this decision has not gone down well with a section of their customers and users on Twitter.

Though the Dubai-based airlines offer a choice of other vegetarian options in the in-flight menu, the decision to no longer offer the ‘Hindu meal’ option has been questioned by many.

Why was Hindu meal taken off the menu?
‘Hindu meal’ was one of the options available in the wide range of special request meals which various international carriers offer to long-distance fliers. These are planned and prepared based on the passengers’ religious and medical needs.

According to Emirates, it decided to drop the Hindu meal option from its in-flight menu based on a review of onboard products and services offered to passengers. Here’s what the airlines’ statement read:

As part of our continuous review of the products and services available to customers, Emirates can confirm that it will discontinue the Hindu meal option. We constantly review our offering, taking into consideration customer uptake and feedback. This helps us improve service efficiencies

However, it clarified that as food is a significant part of their service the Hindu passengers can still choose from a variety of other meals.

“Food and drink form an integral part of any Emirates flight experience and our menus are created by leading chefs to reflect the culture and preferences of Emirates’ diverse customer base. We have a wide variety of special meals that can be ordered in advance to cater to our customers with medical or religious dietary requirements, including our Hindu customers,” the airline asserted.

Despite the assertion that Hindus will still have dishes to choose from, a section of people on Twitter is not pleased with the announcement. While a few have condemned Emirates, others have said that they will not fly with the carrier.

  Emirates Meal, Emirates news, Hindu mean