Airlines offer custom passenger comforts during Ramadan

March 19 (UPI) -- With Ramadan well under way, airlines flying out of the Middle East are offering new menu items and benefits for those traveling during the Islamic holiday.

Muslims worldwide marked the holy month of Ramadan on May 10, starting a period of fasting from before sunup to sundown until the holiday ends in April.

For those planning to fly during Ramadan, Emirates Airlines announced several new options including hot and cold Arabic mezze, lentil soup, chicken kabsa with dakous and raita and traditional sweets at its lounges in Dubai International Airport.

Emirates Airlines said it would provide a special device to calculate the right timings for Imsak -- the time to commence fasting -- and Iftar while in-flight. The company said they would be serving seasonal dishes in addition to offering Arabic coffee and date ice cream and baklawa ice cream all day long.

Etihad Airline lounges in Washington, New York and London announced it would offer traditional Ramadan refreshments like date milk, cucumber refresher, laban, Vimto, karkade and rose milk to travelers.

The airline said it would also offer warm umm ali dessert, the national dessert of Egypt to visitors in premium lounges, and dishes including Arabic mezze, braised lamb with vermicelli rice, fried onion, and almond in their economy class.

Qatar Airways is also offering special services to passengers. It said it would offer an extra baggage allowance free of charge to passengers flying from Doha to Jeddah and vice versa during Ramadan.