The sky's the limit for the world's celebrity chefs

Food Miles

There's no avoiding celebrity chefs, even if you're 30,000ft in the air. If you're fortunate enough to fly business or first class, it would be a shock not to find a famous cook's name beside at least some of the dishes on your in-flight menu.

There's no avoiding celebrity chefs, even if you're 30,000ft in the air. If you're fortunate enough to fly business or first class, it would be a shock not to find a famous cook's name beside at least some of the dishes on your in-flight menu.

Fly long-haul business class with Air France (0871 663 3777; airfrance.co.uk) and you'll be dining on the creations of Guy Martin of legendary Paris restaurant Le Grand Véfour (00 33 1 42 96 56 27; ). Since January, the airline has been working with a roster of top cooks that also includes Joël Robuchon, holder of no fewer than 26 Michelin stars.

The trend stretches back to the late 1990s when Singapore Airlines established its International Culinary Panel that today includes Suzanne Goin of acclaimed Lucques in Los Angeles (001 323 655 6277; lucques.com) and Japanese masterchef Yoshihiro Murata of three-Michelin-starred Kikunoi in Kyoto (00 81 75 561 0015; kikunoi.jp).

British Airways followed suit, employing a distinguished Culinary Council including Shaun Hill of the Walnut Tree Inn in Abergavenny (01873 852797; thewalnuttreeinn.com) and Richard Corrigan of Corrigan's, Mayfair (020-7499 9943; corrigansmayfair.com).

This year, to mark the Olympics, BA asked Heston Blumenthal of the Fat Duck, Bray (01628 580333; thefatduck.co.uk), to create dishes inspired by onboard menus from 1948 when the last London Olympics were staged. Blumenthal teamed up with Simon Hulstone of Michelin-starred Elephant in Torquay (01803 200044; elephantrestaurant.co.uk) who cooked up umami-rich dishes, designed to appeal to taste buds dulled by altitude. Hulstone's menus will be served on long-haul flights from Heathrow until September.

Marcus Samuelson of Red Rooster in Harlem (001 212 792 9001; redroosterharlem.com) has recently been drafted in by American Airlines (0844 499 7300; americanairlines.co.uk) to fashion gourmet sandwiches for its internal flights, while modern Mexican dishes by Richard Sandoval of Maya, New York (001 212 585 1818; richardsandoval.com), are served on international flights in first and business class.

Australian chef Neil Perry has been serving a taste of the modern fusion cuisine that has made his Rockpool restaurant group (00 612 9252 1888; rockpool.com) world famous on board Qantas (08457 747767; qantas.com.au) flights for 15 years.

And if you're heading to Malaga for your summer holiday, or any other destination served by Thomas Cook (0844 412 5970; flythomascook.com), you'll be tucking into specials from TV chef James Martin's menu.