Airline bans instant noodles on flight; here's why

A South Korean airline announced that it will no longer provide ramyeon instant noodles to passengers, citing ‘burn incidents during turbulence’ as the reason, local media reported.

‘Korea Air’, the largest airline based on fleet size in South Korea said that as of August 15, long-haul economy class passengers would not be served the cups of instant noodles because of the possibility of burn injuries.

“In the case of ramyeon service, burn accidents occur frequently due to hot water. In economy class, flight attendants must move several cups of noodles filled with hot water at once, and passengers are crowded together, so the risk of burns has been high,” the Korean Air press release read.

The airline said that there were twice as many reports of turbulence in the first quarter of 2024 than there were in the same period of 2019, attributing the risks to “the increasing trend of turbulence”.

In economy class, a variety of snack options including sandwiches, pizza, corn dogs, and Hot Pockets will take the place of the noodles.

The airline stated that because prestige and first-class cabins are less busy, they will continue to provide ramyeon noodles.