In a travel world turned upside down by the pandemic, global airlines have found a market for selling once stigmatized “airplane food” on the ground. The latest edible entrant come from Finnair, which has started selling its business class fare in supermarkets in a move to keep its catering staff employed and to offer a taste of the airline experience to those missing flying in the COVID-19 times.

Last week we reported that Thai Airways is serving inflight dishes to up to 800 diners a day in a converted staff canteen in Bangkok – another example of global airlines trying to employ their idled resources during the pandemic and tap into people’s desire to fly when most planes are grounded. Some are offering simulated flights, fake trips where the aircraft takes off and lands in the same location, or even just time to sit in the plane.

For its part, Finnair’s “Taste of Finnair” line of ready-made meals includes options like reindeer meatballs, Arctic char and Japanese-style teriyaki beef, which are suited for Nordic and Asian palates and cost about €10-13 ($15.50-plus). Finnair is one of the main airlines flying between Europe and Asia, and several Asian chefs and cooks work at its catering unit.

Kimmo Sivonen, store manager at the K-Citymarket Tammisto, told the newspaper Ilta-Sanomat that the dishes have been modified to have less salt and spices than those offered in the air, where people’s sense of taste is dulled by high altitude.

Takeaway food sales have boomed in Finland since spring after an estimated 60 percent of local work force started working from home due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I think everyone has a bit of wanderlust these days and we can now satisfy that need a bit,” K-Citymarket’s Sivonen said.

Finnair Kitchen VP Marika Nieminen said that the airline’s catering unit has been looking to expand outside traditional flight meal services since the spring when the pandemic forced almost all global airlines to halt most of their flights. Finnair temporarily laid off a large part of its nearly 7,000 workforce and its flight traffic was down 91 percent in September from the previous year.

“So many of Kitchen’s employees are temporarily laid off and we can now create new work and employment for our people,” Nieminen said.