With budget airlines on the rise, it sometimes seems somewhat quaint to remember the times of suffering through bad in-flight food, but enough airlines  put passengers through the ordeal for a new startup to have emerged to try and fix the problem.

The app based venture, called AirGrub, aims to provide travelers with an altogether nicer gourmet experience.

Rather than relying on the food served up by the airline, the app, which is available on iPhone and Android, offers users a choice of food from any of the outlets in the terminal.

A richer menu

Users insert their flight time into the app and are presented with the available restaurants.  All you have to do then is choose the meal that takes your fancy and pick it up when you arrive at the terminal.  You can then take their food on board and enjoy a meal that is hopefully more appetizing.

“When we travel, we don’t walk around looking for which hotel to stay at, so why wait until you are at the airport to decide what to eat?“, the founders said recently.

Suffice to say, as the app is in its infancy it has a limited range, with airports in San Francisco, Boston and New York currently signed up.

A problem that needed solving?

Of course, the question is whether this app is solving a pressing problem.  Most foodstuffs are acceptable through customs, so if one is that concerned about poor food on flights, you could always prepare something at home, or buy it outside of the terminal and take it on board with you.

Diners inside the terminals are renowned for being expensive, and as the app charges the same price regardless of whether the purchase is made in or out of the terminal, I’m not convinced that any potential convenience gains will be sufficient to encourage users to sign up.

Would you use such a service when you fly?