Food cos bet on in-flight catering

Bangalore: Low-cost carriers (LCC) are upping their ante on in-flight catering. And that's creating a whole new opportunity for F&B companies, and not just for 5-star hotel players that have traditionally been in this area.
Coffee chain Cafe Coffee Day (CCD), which is already into this business in a small way with Air Deccan and GoAir, is said to be in talks with budget carrier SpiceJet and international carriers as well as upcoming regional carriers for in-flight catering. It is also talking with its existing customer airlines to expand significantly the portfolio of offerings.
The big players in the airline catering business today include Taj, Oberoi, Grand Ashok, Sky Gourmet and LSG Sky Chefs. These cater mostly to full service and international airlines.
But several low-cost airlines are beginning to offer a range of food items on board, though customers typically have to pay for them.
Air Deccan earns between Rs 2 crore and Rs 3 crore revenue a month from F&B sales.
Air Deccan is conducting trial runs of serving hot meals on flights that have a travel time of more than two hours.
17/10/07 Times of India

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Categories: General Aviation Oct 2007