Two writers flew British Airways Club World between Singapore Changi and London Heathrow in July 2026 and used the round trip to test the airline's vegan (VGML) catering, lounge by lounge and flight by flight. Their verdict: the hard product is genuinely good now, but the plant-based food is wildly inconsistent depending on where your flight departs.
Start with the seats. The new Club World Suite, now fitted on roughly 75-80% of BA's long-haul fleet, impressed them: a 1.98m flat bed, semi-private doors and an 18.5-inch entertainment screen. All Boeing 777-300ERs now have it. The gripes were technical rather than structural — no USB-C ports (bring a USB-A adapter) and WiFi that failed on both 13-hour sectors.
The food told a tale of two airports. Outbound from Changi, the vegan meals were dismal: a flavourless tofu salad, dry bread in plastic, ambiguous margarine, plain penne with mixed beans, and jelly and fruit for dessert while everyone else got gateau and cheese. Yet the Changi lounges told a different story. The British Airways lounge had no vegan labels on the buffet, but after asking, the writers found good cold options — and staff brought a standout lions mane mushroom curry from the Concorde Room. The Qatar Airways Premium Lounge was the letdown: a single vegetable sushi roll, with staff offering dishes containing burrata, egg and cream when asked about vegan food. Qantas' business lounge was small in ambition but honest, with clear vegan labelling and a lovely sago, coconut and mango dessert.
Heathrow was where BA shone. The T5B Galleries Club lounge was quiet, well-staffed and clearly labelled, with a harissa tagine, vegan butternut scotch eggs, jacket potatoes with vegan cheese, Jude's vegan ice cream and Tanqueray 0.0 — one of the best vegan lounge experiences the writers had encountered. More importantly, Heathrow catering is supplied by DO & CO, and it showed: baked eggplant and lentil salad, a proper curry with rice and vegetables, an elegant dessert, and a full vegan breakfast with scrambled tofu and vegan sausage. The contrast with the Changi meals is exactly the inconsistency the writers want BA to fix.
Why should you care? If you're vegan and booking premium cabins — pricier than ever with higher fuel charges and airport taxes — the practical takeaway is to plan around your departure airport. Load up in the lounges at Heathrow or the BA lounge at Changi, pre-order your VGML early, and temper expectations for flights catered outside London. The direct UK–Asia routing itself is a real plus, skipping Middle Eastern stopovers, and the crew earned praise on both legs. Just check that your aircraft has the Club Suite before booking; it's the difference between a cabin that feels genuinely modern and one long overdue for retirement.
