Industry Update
ALPHA UNISET
THOMSON AIRWAYS
Alpha gets BetA!
In celebration of signing a ten year partnership with British Airways at London Gatwick, Alpha has unveiled its very own logistics centre, premium kitchen and customer suite. Said Annette Nicholl, Alpha business director
for BA at the new Alpha unit in Crawley: “We have worked with BA for over 40 years and this new contract has enabled us to completely restructure our operating model. Our Pure Logistics Centre brings the latest thinking in logistics management to meet current needs and incorporates flexibility for future change”. In order to achieve the cost-saving targets
the process involved a complete review of warehousing, materials control, operations, service delivery and logistics. The result is a centre focusing purely on logistics, as the food production element has been removed, combining flight and bond activities in one highly flexible operation. Alpha has also invested in a premium
production kitchen focused on BA First and Business foods. Separate to the Logistics Centre, the kitchen has been designed to give Alpha chefs, such as Andy Bailey, a space to be creative in a built-for-purpose environment. Menu presentations will be given in Alpha’s stylish new customer suite alongside the production kitchen and BA has plans to invite its premium customers to come along and taste new menus for themselves. Says Mike Grimes, head inflight customer experience BA Gatwick: “This is a fantastic opportunity for us to get even closer to our customers.” (Also see page 59)
www.alpha-group.com
Alpha and BA teams in celebratory mood 6
www.onboardhospitality.com
En Route to dnata
Dnata, one of the world’s largest air services providers, has acquired a majority stake in En Route International Ltd, a supplier of bakery and packaged food solutions with operations in London, Dubai and the US. En Route International has ten years’ catering experience in the travel market and has an annual turnover of £12 million. It provides a range of premium quality products and boasts a growing client list which includes British Airways, Delta and Emirates. En Route also operates key distribution centres at two of the world’s busiest airports – London Heathrow in the UK and Hartsfield- Jackson Atlanta International Airport in the USA. This latest deal represents a further investment in the airline catering sector by dnata, whose recent acquisitions in Alpha Flight Group Ltd and Wings Inflight Service extended the company’s international network to 75 airports in 39 countries. “En Route is a niche player which offers highly creative and innovative food solutions, supported by robust logistics”, said Stewart Angus, divisional senior vp, Associated Companies. “It will continue to operate independently under the charismatic leadership of its md and founder, Alison Lessmann.” “Becoming part of dnata brings a number
of new opportunities to En Route and will undoubtedly enhance our ability to develop and distribute our products to a wider audience,” said Alison Lessmann, md, En Route. “That will enable us to both grow the business and provide greater opportunities and a secure future for our employees.”
www.en-route.com Thomson keeps flying with LSG Sky Chefs
Thomson Airways retains LSG Sky Chefs
Thomson Airways has extended its catering contract with LSG Sky Chefs until 2015. The airline carries 10 million customers a
year out of the UK and Ireland and the new agreement sees LSG Sky Chefs providing a buy-on-board operation for short and mid- haul flights as well as meals on long haul. The contract also requires LSG Sky
Chefs to provide dry stores, crew meals, bar provisioning and the warehousing management of duty free/bonded goods. Commented Nigel Ames, head of inflight
product and continuous improvement for Thomson Airways: “We have recently introduced a new retail buy-on-board proposition called ‘the eatery’. We have had a long-standing partnership with LSG Sky Chefs and we are pleased that they have demonstrated their agility by adapting their operation to deliver a high quality but cost- effective solution for our aircraft catering and logistics requirements for the next three years.”
www.thomson.co.uk
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