With the rash of budget airlines flooding the skies of Europe comes a rash of hungry passengers who must learn to fly without the now-missing complimentary meal, or fork out the big bills to purchase something on board.

Captive consumers trapped within an airplane have no other options but to eat the expensive food now sold by flight attendants. They do, however, have a choice of which airline to fly if they want some cheap(er) eats.

CheapFlights.com has put together a rather extensive chart comparing the cost of a ham sandwich and a gin & tonic aboard 22 European budget airlines.

Costs for a gin and tonic vary from free (Air Berlin) to nearly $9 on Ryanair. Ryanair offers much cheaper tickets than Air Berlin and obviously makes up part of their profit difference with over-priced drinks and $7 ham sandwiches. That's perfectly fine with me. Just sell me the cheap ticket without the frills; I don't want to subsidize someone else's free in-flight alcohol when I myself drink only water while flying.

Wait! Water's still free, isn't it?!?

Filed under: Food and Drink, Airlines