The airline catering industry is projected to reach USD 21,116 million by 2027, registering a CAGR of 11.52%
Airline Catering Companies in the US: Poised for Stable Growth
- In February 2022, the United States Department of Transportation in preliminary data mentioned that airlines carried 303.6 million more passengers in 2021 but 245.9 million fewer, or 27% than in 2019. In 2019, domestic flights accounted for 88% of all passengers, while domestic trips accounted for 91% of all passengers in 2021.
- In November 2021, Newrest First Catering officially began providing catering services to United Airlines in Houston, Texas. As part of its contract, the company provided catering and logistic solutions to 427 aircraft flying domestic and international routes. In the future, the company expects to supply 15,000 meals per day, for a maximum of 500 flights.
- In September 2021, US airlines brought back the in-flight hot meals for those long intercontinental and international flights. American Airlines started returning its in-flight meal service with upgrades depending on flight length.
Key Challenges for Global Airline Catering Companies
- International traffic is expected to recover slower than domestic traffic and is projected to normalize to pre-COVID levels by 2024-2025. This is expected to challenge the growth of the in-flight catering market during the forecast period.
- Providing freshly prepared food and complying with food quality and safety regulations have always remained a challenge for the catering service providers and the airlines.
- In February 2021, the European Parliament called on the European Commission to consider taking further action, such as amending the Single-Use Plastics Directive, to ensure that single-use plastics are replaced with reusable products where possible.
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Partnerships between Largest Airline Catering Companies and Airlines on the Rise
- Gate group, LSG Sky Chefs, Cathay Pacific Catering Services (H.K.) Ltd., The Emirates Group, and SATS Ltd. are some of the leading companies in the airline catering Industry.
- In July 2021, Gate group signed a partnership renewal agreement with LATAM Airlines to provide inflight catering services for an additional five years. According to the agreement, Gate group will serve LATAM Airlines at 16 locations, which includes two new strategic domestic locations: Bogotá, Colombia, and Santiago, Chile
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Major Advancements & Innovations in Airline Catering Industry
- In March 2022, Newrest announced that the company began providing hot meal services on two-class flights of Air Transat from various countries across Europe like Belgium, England, France, Netherlands, Portugal, and Spain.
- In November 2021, the Indian low-cost carrier IndiGo announced that it is resuming its meal services that had been suspended since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. The airline's announcement came after the Indian Civil Aviation Ministry allowed airlines to resume in-flight meal services on all domestic flights.
