Lufthansa special meals

Lufthansa offers 11 special meals on Lufthansa-operated flights: gluten-free, low-cholesterol, low-sodium, lactose-free, vegan, vegetarian, Asian vegetarian, Jain, kosher, Muslim and Hindu. All are free of charge and must be ordered up to 24 hours before departure. Economy needs a flight over 185 minutes; Business, over 60. Need help? Call +1-888-890-4009.

The full list of Lufthansa special meals and their booking codes

Lufthansa's own special meals page lists meals by name, not by code. The three-letter codes below are the standard IATA service codes those names map to inside the booking record — the ones your agent, the Lufthansa call centre and any partner airline will actually read. Quote both the name and the code and nothing gets lost in translation.

Two things worth noticing before you scroll. First, Lufthansa groups its 11 meals into three families: dietary, vegetarian/wholefood, and religious. Second, the list is shorter than the industry standard set — Lufthansa does not carry a seafood platter, a fruit platter or a bland meal, so if you have read about those elsewhere, they are not Lufthansa options. Everything in the table below is drawn from Lufthansa's published descriptions.

Religious meals: halal, kosher, Hindu and Jain

Read Lufthansa's exact wording here rather than a summary of it, because the wording is where the limits live.

For the Muslim meal (MOML), Lufthansa's claim is specific: no pork or game, no alcohol, and meat and poultry certified as slaughtered according to halal guidelines. That is a statement about ingredients and slaughter — Lufthansa does not name a certifying halal authority on its special meals page, and does not describe the galley or the wider catering kitchen as halal-supervised. If certification by a named body is your requirement, ask before you fly.

For the kosher meal (KSML), Lufthansa says the food is strictly kosher and prepared under the supervision of a rabbinate. It does not publish which rabbinate. If a particular hechsher matters to you, that is a question for Lufthansa or your agent, not something the website answers.

The Hindu meal (HNML) is the one that catches people out. Lufthansa labels it non-vegetarian.

Lufthansa's own instruction: if you want a fully Hindu vegetarian meal, select the Asian Vegetarian meal instead.

Medical and dietary meals — and the two Lufthansa no longer offers

Lufthansa's dietary family covers four needs: gluten, lactose, cholesterol and sodium. The descriptions are unusually precise for an airline — the low-cholesterol meal is specified at under 100 mg cholesterol with no animal fats and no egg yolk, which is a measurable figure rather than a vague promise.

What is not on Lufthansa's current list matters just as much. There is no diabetic meal (DBML) and no low-calorie meal (LCML). Both were once standard across the industry and both have been removed from what Lufthansa publishes. If you are travelling with diabetes, the practical route is a low-cholesterol or low-sodium tray plus your own controlled snacks — and, for anything medically serious, Lufthansa directs allergy and health questions to its Medical Operation Centre at medicaloperation@dlh.de before departure.

Children's menus, the Kids Box and baby food

Children's meals sit outside the 11 and follow their own rules, which is why they are easy to miss when you are ticking boxes in Manage Booking.

On long-haul flights, Lufthansa provides a children's menu free of charge, pre-ordered up to 24 hours before departure. Lufthansa is blunt about the consequence of not pre-ordering: without it, availability cannot be guaranteed and your child is served the standard adult menu. On European flights the equivalent is the Onboard Delights Kids Box — a snack box, chargeable rather than free, also pre-ordered up to 24 hours ahead.

For infants, Lufthansa carries items such as baby food jars, mini sausages and soups, but explicitly qualifies this as subject to availability. Lufthansa's own advice is to bring your child's preferred baby food; cabin crew will warm it on request. On a long-haul sector with an infant, treat that as the plan rather than the backup.

The 24-hour deadline and what happens if you miss it

Lufthansa's published cut-off is 24 hours before departure, with one condition attached: you must already hold a confirmed booking in the required class. A held or unticketed reservation will not carry a meal request into the catering system.

Treat 24 hours as the floor, not the target. Catering for a Lufthansa long-haul departure is uplifted at the origin airport, and a caterer in a smaller outstation works to a longer lead time than one at Frankfurt or Munich. Requesting 48 to 72 hours out — or at the moment of booking — costs nothing and removes the risk entirely.

Miss the deadline and the special meal simply does not load. Crew cannot create a kosher or Jain tray in the air. What you get instead is whatever the standard menu offers that happens to fit, which for a gluten or lactose restriction may be workable and for a religious requirement usually is not.

One overlooked trap: a rebooking or schedule change can drop the request. If Lufthansa moves you to a different flight, open the booking again and confirm the meal is still attached.

Which cabins and routes actually carry special meals

This is where most disappointment starts. Special meals are not a feature of every Lufthansa flight — they are tied to flight duration and cabin.

Lufthansa publishes two thresholds: Economy Class on flights of more than 185 minutes, and Business Class on flights of more than 60 minutes. In plain terms, every long-haul route qualifies in both cabins, and the longest European sectors qualify in Economy.

Below 185 minutes in Economy, Lufthansa states plainly that special meals are not available on continental flights. That cabin runs the buy-on-board Onboard Delights menu instead, which does include vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free items you can pre-order and pay for — a workable substitute for a preference, not for a religious or medical requirement.

Lufthansa does not publish a separate rule for Premium Economy or First. Both exist only on long-haul aircraft, so any flight carrying them is far beyond the 185-minute threshold, but confirm at booking rather than assuming.

How to request a special meal: online, app, Manage Booking or by phone

Four routes, and which one applies depends entirely on who issued your ticket.

My Bookings on lufthansa.com is the primary route. Sign in with your booking reference and surname, open the passenger's details on the relevant flight, and select the meal. The Lufthansa app offers the same function under the same booking. Both work up to the 24-hour cut-off.

If a travel agency issued your ticket, Lufthansa's instruction is to order through the agency. Agency-issued bookings are frequently locked against passenger-side edits, so attempting it yourself and seeing the option greyed out is normal, not a fault.

By phone to Lufthansa reservations works for anything the website will not accept — and is the right channel for medical questions, which go to the Medical Operation Centre address rather than the meal form.

Do not confuse special meals with Pre-Select, Lufthansa's Business Class hot-main-course choice on flights over two hours. Pre-Select is a menu preference from the standard catering. It is a separate system and does not substitute for a dietary or religious request.

Allergies: what Lufthansa will and will not guarantee

Lufthansa is honest about the limits here, and it is worth quoting rather than softening. Its position is that allergies and food intolerances "cannot be completely eliminated, even on board an aircraft."

On peanuts specifically: Lufthansa does not generally serve peanuts, but states it cannot guarantee that its aircraft and the food served on board are completely free of peanuts or peanut products, or that other passengers will not bring peanut products on board. Lufthansa applies the same caveat to every other allergen.

There is no nut-free special meal on Lufthansa's list. The gluten-free and lactose-free trays address those two specific ingredients; they are not general allergen-free meals, and Lufthansa's allergen information is published as guidance only, because recipes and substitutions change at short notice.

If your allergy is severe, the useful step is contacting Lufthansa's Medical Operation Centre at medicaloperation@dlh.de before you travel. Long-haul flights also carry access to a 24-hour ground-based doctor hotline.

If your special meal is not on board

It happens, and how you handle the first two minutes decides the outcome.

Speak to the cabin crew before the meal service begins, not when the trolley reaches your row. Crew can check the loading list against your booking and confirm whether the tray was uplifted or whether the request never reached catering. If it was loaded but misplaced, it is usually found on board.

If it genuinely was not loaded, crew will assemble what they can from the standard catering. For gluten or lactose that often works. For kosher, Jain or halal there may be no compliant substitute at all, and a well-meaning improvised tray is not the same thing — you are entitled to decline it.

Note the flight number, date and the crew member's response, then raise it with Lufthansa customer relations after landing. Keep your original meal confirmation, which is why ordering through a channel that gives you written proof matters.

If Airlaza issued your ticket, call +1-888-890-4009 and our desk takes the query to Lufthansa on your behalf.

Frequently asked questions

Does Lufthansa serve halal food?

Lufthansa offers a Muslim meal (MOML) on Lufthansa-operated flights. Its own description says there is no use of pork or game and no alcohol, and that all meat and poultry used is certified as slaughtered according to halal guidelines. Order it up to 24 hours before departure, free.

How do I order a special meal on Lufthansa?

Sign in to My Bookings on lufthansa.com or the Lufthansa app, open your flight, and add the meal under passenger details. If a travel agency issued your ticket, ask the agency to add it instead. Airlaza adds meal requests for tickets we issued — call +1-888-890-4009.

What is the deadline for Lufthansa special meals?

Lufthansa's published deadline is 24 hours before departure, and you need a confirmed booking in the right class. Kitchens in some outstations plan earlier, so 48 to 72 hours is safer. If you rebook onto a different flight, the request does not always travel with you — check it again.

Is Lufthansa's Hindu meal vegetarian?

Not reliably. Lufthansa labels it Hindu (non-vegetarian) and says it may contain fish, shellfish, poultry, meat or eggs, though in most cases it is vegetarian. If you need a guaranteed Hindu vegetarian tray, Lufthansa tells you to choose the Asian Vegetarian meal (AVML) instead, which contains no meat at all.

Can I get a kosher meal on Lufthansa?

Yes. Lufthansa lists a kosher meal and describes it as strictly kosher food prepared under the supervision of a rabbinate. It is free and ordered like any other special meal, 24 hours ahead. Lufthansa does not name the supervising rabbinate online, so ask if a specific hechsher matters.

Are special meals free on Lufthansa?

Yes. Lufthansa states there is no additional cost for special meals on Lufthansa-operated flights. That covers all 11 options and long-haul children's menus. The paid exception is short-haul Europe, where Economy runs a buy-on-board Onboard Delights menu and the children's Kids Box carries a charge.

Can I change my meal after booking?

Yes. Go back into My Bookings, remove the existing request and add the new one, any time up to 24 hours before departure. In practice the booking holds one meal code per passenger per flight, so the new choice replaces the old. Re-check after any rebooking.

What if my special meal isn't on the plane?

Tell the cabin crew before the service starts. They can check the loading list, and will usually assemble something from what is on board — though on a kosher or Jain request there may be no compliant substitute. Note the flight and date, then claim through Lufthansa customer relations afterwards.

Are special meals available in Economy?

Yes, on Lufthansa-operated flights longer than 185 minutes — roughly three hours. That covers every long-haul route and the longest European sectors. Below 185 minutes, Economy has no special meals at all; Lufthansa sells vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free items from the Onboard Delights buy-on-board menu instead.

What is the difference between AVML and HNML?

AVML is Lufthansa's Asian Vegetarian meal — no meat, prepared and spiced in the Indian style, and the option Lufthansa points Hindu vegetarians to. HNML is the Hindu meal, which Lufthansa labels non-vegetarian and says may contain fish, shellfish, poultry, meat or eggs. Choose AVML if you eat no meat.