Next time you need a little pick-me-up on a transatlantic flight to London, you better hope you’re flying British Airways. The company recently instituted a service providing nutritional supplements to its first class passengers.

It all began one year ago when the airline giant approached Louai Al-Turaihi, chief executive of Kudos Vitamins, London, U.K., to forge a partnership to bring nutrition to those who travel at 35,000 feet. According to Mr. Al-Turaihi, British Airways approached the company after surveying the nutritional supplement market in the U.K. and defining an interest in providing supplements to British Airway’s passengers. According to Mr. Al-Turaihi, executives at British Airways thought this was a good idea for passengers from a health point of view. He said, “This was something they had thought about for quite some time; British Airways looked at multivitamins not as a luxury but a necessity.”

Mr. Al-Turaihi responded positively to British Airways request. “I really congratulate them for doing something like this for their passengers,” he said. “Handing out supplements at 35,000 feet says a lot about British Airways.” In terms of the benefit to passengers Mr. Al-Turaihi said, “Customers will benefit because they are usually on long journeys, which can run them down. In addition, they are breathing one another’s air for the entire plane ride.”

The program has been in effect since May. In the first year of the partnership, Kudos is supplying British Airways with its multivitamin “Q-100.” Next, Mr. Al-Turaihi said, British Airways will add the vitamin C supplement, “C-500,” to the supplement regimen as well.

Kudos Vitamins made its entry into the dietary supplement market about three years ago. Right now the company manufactures approximately 75 different supplement products. Mr. Al-Turaihi said of the company’s offerings, “We don’t use binders or fillers and the herbs are high potency.” These high quality standards are what Mr. Al-Turaihi attributes the company’s success. “We are one of the fastest growing supplement companies in the U.K. and have been approached by companies like GNC, which has put Kudos supplements on its shelves in various stores across the U.K.” he said.

-R.M.