Continental Airlines recently made public the plan to cut down its free in-flight meal service on its short-haul economy flights in the US to save as much as $35 million a year. If implemented, Continental will be the last among major US carriers to offer free in-flight meal service to economy-class passengers. Most airline companies had already pulled the service out since the economic downturn.

However, long-haul passengers and those seating in business class will not be affected by the new scheme and will still get their usual in-flight meal for free. The fourth biggest US carrier has also introduced a new in-flight programme, called ‘food-for-sale’, that allows passengers to upgrade their food.

Currently, Continental offers free drinks and snacks for flights lasting under two hours, sandwiches for trips between two to three hours and free hot meals for travels longer than three hours. These economy class freebies will no longer be available by autumn.

Airline companies that are heavily affected by the declining demand in travel, due to the recent economic downturn, have turned down a number of in-flight extras to reduce air fare costs. Even low cost carriers easyJet and Ryanair are planning to charge passengers using the lavatory with £1.