Parata Air launches in-flight meals developed with 'Black and White Chef' contestant

Parata Air said Wednesday it is launching five new in-flight meal options to strengthen its onboard dining offerings.

The new lineup includes two items developed in collaboration with chef Choi Gyu-deok, a contestant on the Netflix cooking competition "Black and White Chef": a braised whole eel rice bowl and a chicken soup curry. Three additional items were developed in-house — a bossam set meal, a perilla oil makguksu noodle dish and a meat bibimbap.

Each item went through more than three months of development. Parata Air said it conducted recipe research and repeated testing with actual in-flight conditions in mind from the earliest planning stages, then refined taste and quality through internal tasting panels and a final review session.

The braised eel rice bowl, developed with Choi, features a whole eel served on top of rice and received high marks at the airline's internal tasting event.

The chicken soup curry draws on soup curry, a regional specialty of Sapporo in Japan's Hokkaido. Parata Air said it designed the dish so passengers can get a taste of their destination before landing — the airline is set to launch service on the Incheon–Sapporo route in July.

Alongside this, the airline is introducing three Korean-style dishes: the bossam set meal, meat bibimbap and perilla oil makguksu. The makguksu replaces naengmyeon, which had been a signature menu item, and was developed to reflect customer preferences and seasonal considerations.

The braised eel rice bowl, chicken soup curry and bossam set meal can be pre-ordered on the Parata Air website up to 48 hours before departure. The perilla oil makguksu is available for immediate order onboard. To mark the launch, the airline plans to offer discounts of up to 20 percent on select menu items throughout July.

"We put a great deal of thought and care into each dish, with the belief that the flight is where the journey begins," said Kim Gwang-su, an assistant manager on Parata Air's in-flight commerce team. "We will continue to roll out diverse menus that reflect the season, route characteristics and customer feedback, and deliver a differentiated onboard experience."

Meanwhile, Parata Air is adding flights on its Incheon–Osaka route to capture demand during the peak summer travel season in the third quarter. The airline is also offering fare discounts on three routes in total — the Osaka route and two routes to Vietnam.