THE type of food we see on flights today has changed massively from the early days of aviation.

The first in-flight meal was served in 1919 on the Handley-Page London to Paris route, and consisted of just a sandwich and fruit.

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But in the decades that followed, in flight meals became a luxury experience.

Some journeys offered seven course dinners and menus with luxury food items like fillet steak and cherry souffle served with fresh cream.

For some first class passengers, meals were served on beautiful china plates.

Former Chief Pilot and Director of British Airways, Al Bridger has shared how food on flights has changed through the years in his book Flavour of Flight: The Food and Drink of British Airways.

His book includes a host of fascinating pictures of in flight meals from decades gone by, including recipes on how to make some of passengers’ favourite plane dishes.

He told Sun Travel: “British Airways and its predecessor airlines have always strived to give the best possible offering to their customers across all the cabins.

“From the very early days of introducing fine sandwiches to taking advantage of all the technological advances with onboard ovens and the highly innovative ‘height cuisine’ of the 2000s, designed with top chef Heston Blumenthal, by using flavours and the freshest ingredients to maximise taste at altitude.

“Flavour of Flight charts this journey of the airline’s drive to always improve and create better product, as we all know that food and drink play an important role in the overall customer experience when travelling.”

In the very early era of flying, food service was limited. There was no galley or ovens on the aircraft, which meant the only hot items available were flasks of coffee, tea, Bovril and chocolate.

Fast forward to the 1930s, the air travel industry was growing, and there was a move towards a much more luxurious travel experience.

Al writes in the book that the purpose-built aircraft had two toilets, and, importantly, a bar and a kitchen in the centre section.

This space allowed for exceptional table service to happen, in the form of five-course lunches and seven-course dinners.

And the quality of food onboard had dramatically improved from just sandwiches in the previous decade.

Typical menus from the time included roast chicken with green salad and peaches with Melba sauce for dessert, along with cheese and a wine list.

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Fast forward again to the 50s, culinary progress was made with more complex dishes – the likes cream of pea soup, seafood cocktail, fillet of sole, and soufflé Montmorency appeared on menus.

In the 60s, whole roast joints were being served in the cabin.

Al writes: “These were presented on a trolley and carved individually to the customer’s taste, making this a moment of inflight theatre.”

While this was popular, Al can’t see this making a return.

In recent years, budget cuts have led to plane food and the way it’s served on many airlines being more basic.

However some of the food from the early days of flying, such as lamb cutlets and the great British pie, are still around today, but with a modern twist.

Al has been privileged to have eaten many meals across his time flying with British Airways, but one of his favourite meals has to be roasted cauliflower risotto.

He told Sun Online Travel: “I love the roasted cauliflower risotto from the current Club World menu. It is my go-to meal, and the recipe is in the final chapter of Flavour of Flight.

“Simple and quick to make, it blends the flavour of cauliflower with Parmesan cheese so its filling and very tasty.”

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This year’s BFI London Film Festival begins on October 9 and is selling out fast. Only £200 fundraising tickets remain for the world premiere of Steve McQueen’s wartime drama Blitz, starring Saoirse Ronan, and there’s not a seat to be had for Sean Baker’s Cannes Palme d’Or winner Anora. There were still tickets — at press time — for the following, but there is no time to waste.

One to One: John & Yoko

“There’s nothing you can know that isn’t known, nothing you can see that isn’t shown,” sang John Lennon. You might think this true of his own life story after the surfeit of Beatles documentaries in recent years. But Kevin Macdonald and Sam Rice-Edwards’ One to One: John & Yoko finds something fresh. It picks up in 1972, three years after and 3,000 miles away from the London of Get Back, Lennon and Ono now residing in Greenwich Village and joining the anti-establishment Rock Liberation Front in an effort to reverse rising youth apathy. But it’s not all peace and love: they face threats of deportation and FBI surveillance, ironically inspiring them to tape their own phone calls and thus providing much of the material here. Another trove is footage from two One to One benefit concerts, the only full-length ones Lennon ever gave post Beatles. Ono is no longer the silent partner of Get Back, here railing against the misogyny and sexism she faced in Britain. But there is much levity too: Yoko and her assistants sourcing live flies for her installation art becomes a running gag, as does Lennon trying to lure a piqued Bob Dylan into performing. The directors find a winning tone that is not overly reverent, dispensing with the greying talking heads and letting youthful optimism course through the film. More than 50 years later, it still has the power to inspire. RA

Emilia Pérez

Emilia Pérez is a soft-spoken mother of two living peacefully in a plush Mexican suburb. She doesn’t start that way: at the outset she is Juan “Manitas” Del Monte, a feared kingpin who kidnaps a defence lawyer (Zoe Saldaña) and employs her to help him transition. Yes, this is a hard-boiled cartel thriller with a transgender twist — and a musical to boot, weaving in rap and reggaeton numbers in Lin-Manuel Miranda fashion. Some rhythms arise organically from the cadence of conversation; others begin with the percussive click-clack of assault rifles. Saldaña does much of the hoofing and lends burning intensity to the role of Manitas’s fixer and confidante. Less in the know is his wife, Only Murders in Building star Selena Gomez stretching her range while working mostly in Spanish. Meanwhile, the Oscar-tipped Karla Sofía Gascón ranges from quiet menace to tenderness in the tricky dual role of Manitas/Emilia, who finds it is easier to change gender than change the past. Writer/director Jacques Audiard (A Prophet, Dheepan) balances narrative audacity with emotional authenticity, proving again his ability to turn his hand to seemingly any genre. RA

It’s Not Me

When the director of Lovers on the Bridge and Holy Motors sets his mind to reflecting on his life, cinema, and the world, what you get is the blithely bizarre and wildly creative It’s Not Me. Leos Carax’s voiceover mimics raspy late-period Jean-Luc Godard, but any pretensions vanish as he hopscotches among his family history and his 20th-century heroes and villains, pausing to portray himself (in infrared) dreaming up his work in a bedroom crawling with cats. This 41-minute dervish of ideas, images, and goofs shares the joyous velocity and unbound cinephilia of Carax’s other films, which pop up in vibrant clips (with a surprise or two). Amid the flood are moments of sudden poignancy, such as a ghostly-looking girl playing piano, and barbed insights on the absurdities and outrages of the past century. Despite the title, it’s a movie that feels utterly personal in its total idiosyncrasy. NR

The Invasion

It’s hard to surpass Sergei Loznitsa as chronicler of Ukraine’s struggle to wrest itself free from Russia, having served up films on Maidan, Donbas, and now, his entire country under Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion. Filmed over two years, The Invasion pointedly sticks to the home front to show Ukrainians carrying on with daily business as best as possible despite the demands and death toll of war. It’s a living mosaic of moments — families getting food, children at school, even a wedding and impromptu dance — that radiates an inspiring sense of life force and steely determination. But even if we’re not brought to the battlefield, the tentacles of war reach every other scene in some way, whether it’s a woman re-bricking her bombed house, amputees undergoing physiotherapy, or a bookstore binning Russian-language novels. There’s a palpable patriotic pride here, yet shadowed by the hard work of simply surviving. NR

Motherboard

Like a do-it-yourself version of Michael Apted’s Up series or Richard Linklater’s Boyhood, Motherboard captures 20 years in the lives of a filmmaker and the son she is raising alone. Victoria Mapplebeck fashions a bustling close-up portrait of motherhood and growing pains that chronicles young Jim from his toddler days up through angsty adolescence. What shines through the ups and downs is the love between the two and their jokey rapport, as Jim displays a touching sensitivity to his mother even as he carves out his independence. Hanging over the years is the question of whether to reconnect with Jim’s birth father, who is a source of insecurity and lingering hurt for each of them. Woven together from digital camera and smartphone footage, it’s also a portrait of an artist who is pushing through frustrations and finally making the most of the subject who is living and breathing right in front of her. NR

October 9-20, bfi.org.uk/lff

A MAJOR bank is set to discontinue credit card services for all customers in a matter of days, The Sun can reveal.

Cahoot, a subsidiary of Santander, will stop offering credit card services for all customers next week.

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Cahoot ceased offering new credit cards to customers back in 2006.

However, over 1,000 existing customers are still using these credit cards today.

Many more may still have a Cahoot card knocking around.

All these credit cards will stop working from September 30.

This means you will no longer be able to pay for goods or services in-store or online with the card.

Customers will need to find another credit card provider to continue to make purchases in this way.

A spokesperson for Cahoot told The Sun: “Following a review of our product range, we have made the decision to close the cahoot credit card account from September 30, 2024.

“We have written to Cahoot credit card customers to outline the options available to them, including transferring to a Santander Everyday No Balance Transfer Fee Credit Card as a replacement.”

If you still have an outstanding balance on your card after this date, you can continue to make repayments as usual – there’s no time limit on repaying the debt.

Once you’ve repaid your balance in full and it’s at £0, Cahoot will then close your account and write to you to confirm this. 

You won’t be forced to pay off your debt in full.

The bank says that all repayment options will continue to be available to affected customers.

Your statement will continue to show the minimum repayment amount required each month.

You must pay the minimum payment on or before your payment due date.

The minimum payment is the highest of:

• The full credit card balance if it is less than £5
• Any arrears payable, plus the greater of 2.5% of the credit card balance or £5

Remember, if you only make the minimum payment, it will take longer and cost you more to clear your balance.

This is because interest is added to your outstanding bill.

Martyn James, consumer rights expert, says: “If you’ve got a big debt on your credit card, you might be worried about paying off the bill now the Cahoot card is being withdrawn.

“However, in situations like this, the business should allow you to keep paying off the debt by the minimum payment.

“If you’re in financial difficulties, they should set up a payment plan at a rate you can afford – and not charge excessive interest.”

Santander says that customers who actively use the Cahoot credit card can apply for a replacement credit card with Santander and complete a balance transfer.

However, Cahoot will also allow customers to transfer their existing credit card debt onto a new credit card with a different bank.

This means those who can’t afford to pay off their balance in full could transfer it to an interest-free balance transfer credit card.

These cards allow customers to temporarily stop paying interest for up to 29 months for a small processing fee of 2-4%.

If you want to pay your debt down completely, you should avoid spending extra money on these cards.

With HSBC‘s market-leading offer, customers can stop paying interest for 29 months, with a 3.49% transfer fee.

Those with less-than-perfect credit scores might be eligible for a 16-month Virgin Money card with a 3% transfer fee.

Those with poor credit scores could be eligible for Fluid’s nine-month interest-free balance transfer card, which also charges a 3% transfer fee.

FIND THE BEST CREDIT CARD DEALS

You should always use an eligibility calculator before applying. That’s because every credit card application leaves a mark on your credit file and can affect your credit score.

To assess all the available cards, visit price comparison websites like MoneySavingExpert’s Cheap Credit Club or Compare the Market.

Once you run your details through an eligibility calculator and you’ve been shown that you’re likely to be accepted, make a formal application.

To do this, you will need to provide your name, address and email address as well as details of your income so a provider can assess your eligibility.

You will also need to provide details of how much money you want to transfer to the new card, but you can often do this after you have been accepted.

If your application is approved, you will need to transfer the balance within a set period, usually around 60 or 90 days.

Your old balance will then be cleared and you can start making interest-free repayments on your new card.