The current exploratory study attempted to investigate the levels of expected and perceived service quality of in-flight meals. A questionnaire was developed following extensive literature review and in-depth interviews. The survey was conducted on board a flight by international passengers and also by passengers in the trans lounge waiting for connecting flights between October 21, 2005 through October 30, 2005. Out of the 450 questionnaires administered, a total of 319 completed questionnaires were returned, yielding a response rate of 89.6%. The 20 items representing the service quality factor of in-flight meals were analyzed, resulting in four distinct dimensions-food quality, employee service, cleanliness and reliability. In all dimensions, customer expectation was higher than the perceived level of service and the service quality of Korean based airlines was higher than that compared to foreign based airlines. There were differences in the perceived service quality of in-flight meals according to the demographics of the respondents. The results of this study can be beneficial from a theoretical and practical point of view by providing empirical data that measures the service quality of in-flight meals.