Airline to stop selling popular snack on board due to safety fears

Snacks will instead include sandwiches, corn dogs, and hot pockets

(Getty/iStock)

An airline has announced it will stop serving instant cup noodles on its long-haul flights, part of changes in response to increased turbulence incidents.

Korean Air will stop serving the snack, known as ramyeon, as it requires boiling water.

“This decision is part of proactive safety measures in response to increased turbulence, aimed at preventing burn accidents,” Korean Air said in a statement on Thursday.

The cup noodles are a popular part of the airline’s in-flight service, featuring heavily on social media.

Korean Air last month said turbulence incidents were increasing and it would finish long- and medium-haul cabin services 20 minutes earlier, wrapping up services 40 minutes before landing.

Serving the hot noodle cups to tightly seated economy class passengers will stop from August 15. Snacks will instead include sandwiches, corn dogs, and hot pockets, the airline said.

Korean Air is one of 21 airlines that have joined a turbulence real-time data exchange platform launched by global airline body the International Air Transport Association (IATA) in 2020.

Concerns about turbulence on planes have heightened since a Singapore Airlines flight from London in May encountered a severe incident leading to one death and dozens of injuries.

The interior of Singapore Airline flight SQ321 is pictured after an emergency landing at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi International Airport, Thailand, 21 May 2024 (REUTERS)

Six Britons were left fighting for their lives in hospital in the incident.

It happened 10 hours into the flight from London Heathrow to Singapore, when the Boeing 777 carrying 211 passengers and 18 crew members, dropped 6,000ft in about three minutes.

The dive tossed people around the cabin, with some suffering head injuries from hitting the ceiling.

After regaining control, the captain diverted the plane to Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport, where medical teams evaluated those aboard and sent more than 80 to hospital.

The US National Weather Service says: “Turbulence is caused by abrupt, irregular movements of air that create sharp, quick updrafts/downdrafts. These updrafts and downdrafts occur in combinations and move aircraft unexpectedly.”

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) defines clear air turbulence as “sudden severe turbulence occurring in cloudless regions that causes violent buffeting of aircraft… CAT is especially troublesome because it is often encountered unexpectedly and frequently without visual clues to warn pilots of the hazard.”