It made headlines worldwide and will go down in history as one of the world’s greatest complaint letters. Such is the effect of the letter written by passenger Oliver Beale to Virgin chief Richard Branson that his efforts have seen his literary work voted the most popular story in 2009 for Traveller magazine.

Beale was literally disgusted by the standard of the meal offered to him, along with the poor range of in-flight entertainment, on a flight bound from India to London last December that he felt obliged to put pen to paper to express his sentiments, creating a global phenomenon in the process as the complaint went viral. The letter is a mixture of hilarity and anger and has entertained millions.

Beale famously described opening his meal as similar to a young boy opening his biggest Christmas present expecting a new stereo only to be presented with his own hamster, dead. Branson made the effort to contact Beale personally with an apology but also admitted he was as amused as everyone by the letter.

Elsewhere, the most read Traveller stories of the year were dominated by airlines and complaints. An Australian man who died aboard an Air France flight where the air conditioning failed and the plane was delayed while on the tarmac came in second on the list. Tiger Airways made the top ten twice for its poor service and stroppy attitude to a breastfeeding mother while The Best Job in the World campaign from Tourism Queensland also rated highly.