AN AUSTRALIAN TOUCH FOR INTERCONTINENTAL KLM FLIGHTS

 KLM Royal Dutch Airlines will be serving Australian cuisine and wines on all its intercontinental flights, departing from Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, from September 1 through December 1, 2000. KLM will add a touch of Australian culture to both World Business Class and Economy Class passengers’ inflight experience with video and audio entertainment from down under.

KLM’s inflight service launches a fresh new theme on all its flights every autumn to pleasantly surprise its passengers, offering just that extra something to break the normal routine of long flights.

“Australia” has been chosen as theme for this year’s autumn launch since the country is home to the Olympic Games from September 15, 2000 and in response to the growing enthusiasm for the trend-setting and original quality of contemporary Australian cooking, also known as “fusion cuisine.” The theme also reflects the growing interest worldwide for Australian films and music and Australian Aboriginal art.

In addition to the wines from Australia’s respected wine-house BRL Hardy, KLM will be serving recipes using typically Australian ingredients such as bush tomatoes, ginger and wattle, the seeds of the Australian acacia. Other dishes planned for the three-month period include hoky fish, an Australian freshwater whitefish; and yabbies, an Australian freshwater crayfish. These Australian dishes and wines will be introduced by star Australian TV chef Ian Parmenter in a short inflight video presentation.

Inflight entertainment will reflect the Australian theme. Passengers can listen to a special selection of Australian music and view Australian films on the video channels. KLM’s inflight magazine, Holland Herald, will feature stories on Australia.

KLM’s previous themes for inflight catering and entertainment were Italy, California and Canada.