Bread and water?
 

My wife and I flew from London City to Athens With Swiss on 12th June, returning on 27th June - something we have done quite frequently in our retirement.
Going out, via Geneva, we were surprised to find that, in Economy, Cabin Crew were supplied with a chart which appeared to show whether passengers had booked 'light' -hand baggage only or 'classic' - with hold baggage. If the former, you were offered a glass of water. The latter were given a paper bag with a small bottle of water and a roll ( with jam on the first leg and with cheese on the second leg). Anything else appeared to be a pay fore it option - even a coffee.This created both extra work for the cabin staff and a certain amount of amused dismay for the passengers.

Returning, via Zurich, normal food and beverage arrangements operated. We are left wondering whether we were exposed to some weird budget cutting experiment or whether there was a rational reason for this LOCO approach? We'd be interested to learn the inside story.

Same at Eurowings on EU trips.

Also part of Lufthansa! I'm curious as to why the outward flight was treated in this manner but not the return journey. Was it a short-lived experiment or is a journey via Geneva treated differently to those via Zurich?

It mentions as much on the LX website - no free food for Swiss Economy out of GVA. I would imagine that they see themselves as competing with easyJet & other LCCs out of GVA, ZRH has far less low cost and more transfer traffic. When I have checked LX Y fares seem to be slightly lower out of GVA than ZRH but I certainly would not claim it to be a proper scientific sample. It does raise two points - having a different product out of two airports can be confusing (although BA did it with LHR / LGW), and it makes life difficult for the Cabin crew - other airlines have not tried it for that reason.

Thank you: that is most helpful.