Frequent flyers love to have a few drinks when cruising high above the clouds and the people at the oneworld alliance recognise this fact. A few times a year the alliance will issue a press release about awards they have won for on board wine.

While wine is quite important, there are other drinks that may interest you. Happily the last press release included some fun facts which reminded me of some of my favourite tipples in the sky.

Oneworld Fun Facts

Qantas is the third biggest buyer of wine in Australia, selecting from 150 plus Australian wine makers.

British Airways offers a choice of three Champagnes and seven different wines to First Class passengers – and five wines in Club World.

Cathay Pacific has brewed its own signature beer – Betsy – specially crafted to be ideal at 36,000 feet.


British Airways commissioned its own signature gin.

oneworld member airlines focus also on non-alcoholic beverages. Among them, Finnair served a million litres of blueberry juice, Finland’s signature drink, while Qantas serves barista coffee in most of its lounges.

So, What Drinks Are Important?

One of the drinks I quite like is Cathay Pacific’s Cathay Delight. It’s a non-alcoholic smoothie and it’s green to evoke the colours of the airline. It’s really tasty, so that sticks out in my memory. They also do a mean Bloody Mary too!

When flying British Airways, it’s all about the Champagne. It’s proper Champagne for a start and I always quite like it. The Laurent-Perrier Grand Siècle served in the Concorde Room and in First Class is truly ambrosia!


Qatar Airways offer a number of cocktails and mocktails in business class. I love cocktails and it’s really nice to have them while flying. My only gripe would be the fact there isn’t a bigger range to choose from.

Of course there are red wines, white wines, dessert wines, port, gin, vodka, whiskey and all sorts of other things too. I tend to have wine with meals and Champagne otherwise, unless I’m getting tipsy – then I switch to mocktails or guzzle gallons of water.

Overall Thoughts

Imagine being a teetotaller and flying business class or first class. All those drinks going to waste – it’s almost criminal. Those delicious little drinks with their bubbles, ice and adornments really add to the flying experience.

What are your favourite drinks when flying? Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.

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Featured image by Jens Theeß on Unsplash.
Betsy Beer via Cathay Pacific.