Bison Shepherd’s Pie, Lobster Mac n Cheese, Haskap cheesecake.

The frozen meals in front of me are unusual enough but the most surprising thing of all is that this supermarket fridge is filled with airline food. And people love it. 

When I told people in Canada that I was going to the Yukon every single person who had been before told me how much they loved the cookies on Air North. It seemed like a strange thing to mention. Until I was somewhere between Vancouver and Whitehorse biting into my first freshly baked warm chocolate chip cookie and realising how right they were. 

The Yukon’s own airline, Air North is 49 per cent owned by the Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation and 100 per cent owned by Yukoners, as well as being one of the largest employers in the territory. 

In 2004 they launched the Air North Flight Kitchen where meals for flights are prepared fresh that very same day. The supermarket meals may be frozen, but with the exception of some seasonal flights that overnight on the other side of the country, everything on board is freshly made. 

The Air North Flight Kitchen is led by Chef Michael Bock who worked with some of the best chefs in British Columbia before moving north. Bock says he enjoys putting Yukon twists on familiar international favourites and using fresh local ingredients including elk, bison and wild cranberries.

The airline’s food first became available on the ground in 2018 when they started selling Air North cheesecakes through the Independent Wykes Grocery in the Yukon capital, Whitehorse. These days they’re in five Whitehorse stores and when I find an entire fridge dedicated to Air North Flight Kitchen food I try to imagine seeing the same thing anywhere else in the world. And fail. 

Frozen dinners include Thai chicken or vegetarian curries, spring rolls, lasagne and sweet potato stew, while the cheesecake options for dessert include raspberry, chocolate, and mango year round along with special occasion flavours like mint chocolate for St Patrick’s Day and candy cane for Christmas. 

When the pandemic hit Air North was quick to act and in March 2020 they started a new home delivery service. As well as keeping the kitchen staff employed it provided jobs for the inflight team too and the quality and service were so good locals didn’t want it to stop. 

While the program has now been cut back people in Whitehorse can still have their airline meals delivered to their doors on Thursday afternoons. 

Air North flies throughout the Yukon and to the Northwest Territories, British Columbia, Alberta and seasonally to Ontario, and recently announced full interlines with Germany’s Condor Airlines, Philippine Airlines and Alaska Airlines, making it easier for customers to book connecting flights and have baggage transferred. And as new travellers from around the world discover the Yukon they’ll get their first taste of the territory in the air.

And with a very special cookie.

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