You might as well appoint a professor of shoe cleaning as a professor of airline food

Egon Ronay

But the restaurant critic Egon Ronay was not recommending the idea, as he attacked the university's plans as unworthy of an academic institution.

"I think this is a ridiculous step to take. Airline food is not a university subject. It's a waste of money to have a professor for airline food, it's an absurd idea," he said.

"It's up to the chefs and caterers to improve airline food. You might as well appoint a professor of shoe cleaning as a professor of airline food."

'Serious subject'

But the university remains unabashed and has welcomed the setting up of the new professorship, which is to be funded by �500,000 from the airline catering industry.

There will also be another �1m from the university to develop research into the global airline food industry.

"It's excellent for the university to be leading the way. It's a serious subject which requires a lot of work," said the head of the university's school of management, Professor David Airey.

The university now has to find an appropriate candidate for the post, with Professor Airey saying that this "high calibre" individual will have to combine academic achievement with experience of airline catering.

Defending the international importance of airline catering, an industry representative said that it was a trade worth $10bn a year.