Caterers may miss out on airport upgrade benefits

Kolkata: Though Airports Authority of India (AAI) is investing a large sum on upgrading Kolkata airport's infrastructure, aviation catering units are not yet ready to cash in on the expected growth in the number of fliers.
The state government has turned down proposals for land from TajSats and Lufthansa Sky Chefs to set up units near the airport, while new players like Skygourmet and Oberoi Flight Services are playing the waiting game.
"We were determined to open a unit in the city and officers from our head office had made several visits. But lack of land close to the airport forced us to withdraw the project," said a Lufthansa official.
TajSats, which has monopoly over inflight services in the city, also sought land near the airport to upgrade its infrastructure. But, with the proposal rejected, they are now concentrating on increasing production within its existing infrastructure.
Skygourmet, which had planned to start a unit six months back, is now not prepared to declare a time frame for its plans. The first phase of the airport modernization project is slated to be completed in the next 36 months and it will have a capacity to hold over 25 million passengers.
21/02/09 Arpit Basu/Times of India

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Categories: Airports Feb 2009