A planeful of passengers were informed mid-way through their flight that the food and drink on their menu cards would cost more than the stated prices.
The announcement was made by a steward over the PA system to those on board a British Airways flight from Athens to Heathrow on Thursday.
The staff member told passengers to ignore the menu prices because they had been increased that day – reportedly by around 10%.
Card payment readers had also already been adjusted to charge higher rates.
One of the passengers on board the flight told The Sun: ‘We were all shocked. Why did they suddenly put the prices up without warning anyone?
‘They’ve sneakily introduced this without making an official announcement.
‘It just feels like they want to rip us off.’
Prices were already high for food on board BA’s flights – where a 90g pack of Naked Japanese Style Chicken Flavour Noodles, costing just £1.50 at Sainsbury’s, runs at about £5.
The airline has since said that ‘small alterations’ to the ‘prices of snacks and drinks on our short haul flights’ were made as part of ‘scheduled changes’, and that the firm is in the process of updating its onboard menus.
It comes amid a spate of staffing controversies at British Airways, which was recently ranked among the lowest of UK airlines for customer satisfaction.
Just last weekend, news broke that a BA captain had been grounded after it was alleged he had covered up his history of anger management issues.
A source with knowledge of the matter said: ‘The idea of a captain in charge of passengers at 30,000 ft suddenly lashing out in fits of rage is a big no-no.
‘Falsifying medical records is an incredibly serious accusation and would fall into the criminal realm of fraudulently acquiring a job.’
The allegations were contained in a whistleblower complaint currently under investigation by the Civil Aviation Authority, who have not commented on the case.
It followed after the airline was forced to sack another pilot back in September for bragging to colleagues about snorting cocaine of a topless woman just hours before he was meant to be flying a plane full of passengers back to the UK.
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