Tea Time Twist: British Airways Announces Surprise New In-Flight Tea Partner

The brand of tea that an airline serves probably isn’t high on the list of concerns for passengers, but when it comes to an airline that serves 40 million cups of the stuff onboard its flights every year and is ingrained into the culture of its homeland, this is headline worthy stuff.

For many years, British Airways has served Twinings tea onboard its flights and in its premium lounges, but at the end of this month, the airline will transition to a new brand that you might never have heard of.

From May 1, British Airways will start serving a range of teas from Birchall, a family-owned British company that can trace its history back more than 150 years to 1872, when Captain Birchall Graham, an officer with the Duke of Wellington’s Regiment, started a tea company in India.

Today, Birchall sources much of its black tea from East Africa, and while the brand might not be quite as well known as many of its rivals, it has been slowly building a cult following with its signature Great Rift breakfast blend, winning more industry accolades than any other breakfast tea.

Only passengers traveling in BA’s First cabin will, however, get to try the Great Rift brand, while passengers in Club World, World Traveller Plus, and World Traveller on long-haul flights will be able to try an English Breakfast blend created for the trade, as well as a decaffeinated version.

Birchall’s will also be supplying British Airways with a range of specialty teas for premium cabin passengers, with Camomile, Lemongrass & Ginger, and Red Berry & Flower on offer in First, and Peppermint​, Green Tea, and Earl Grey available in Club World.

The tea brand will also be rolled out at BA’s premium lounges around the world and passengers traveling in BA’s short-haul economy cabin will be able to buy a cup of Birchall’s English Breakfast tea from the onboard shop.

“Last year, we served more than 37 million cups of tea in the air and more than two million cups in our lounges globally, so we knew that selecting our newest tea partner was a decision we had to get right,” commented BA’s chief customer officer Calum Laming.

“We’re proud to be continually leading the way in championing British originality, and it was important to us that our tea not only ticks the taste box but also showcases the quality and talent we have on our doorstep here in the UK,” Laming continued.

How this change goes down with passengers is probably going to be very dependent on how well cabin crew brews the pots of tea that are served onboard, but on the face of it, this does seem like a decent investment.

At retail price, Birchall’s is slightly more expensive than a comparable black tea from Twinings, and user reviews from the online supermarket Ocado suggest that shoppers are very happy with Birchall’s tea.