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Phuket conference brings An anticipated cooperation agreement between the world’s two travel catering associations and two days of discussions and presentations marked this year’s Global Leadership Conference for Asia, hosted by the International Flight Services Association (IFSA). The June 6-8 event, held in Phuket, Thailand included presentations and panel discussions covering a wide range of topics from long-haul travel by low cost carriers and the future of galley design to the finest ways to prepare Thai cuisine using authentic herbs. In the evenings, the 150 delegates dined Thai style and were entertained by local music and dancing. Many spent an afternoon touring the sultry island; seeing its sights sometimes from the backs of elephants. Other options included tours of the new Thai Airways unit at Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok and the Phuket Air Catering Company operation near the island’s airport. The announcement of the new cooperation agreement came final day of the event in the form of a Memorandum of Understanding signed by IFSA president Sandra Pineau and International Travel Catering Association president David Young. The Memorandum paves the way for the two groups to resume cooperation on a single event in Asia; the first will be a conference and trade show April 22-25, 2008 in Singapore. Two years ago, the groups split from their cooperation, each hosting its own yearly Asia event. Spearheading some of the efforts to get the two groups together was IFSA vice president Ken Samara. “The opportunity to join forces in the Asia Pacific Region represents a responsive advancement for the entire inflight and travel catering industry,” said Pineau, in a statement issued by IFSA June 8. In ITCA’s @s it happens newsletter Young called the agreement a fulfillment of a personal objective when to took the president’s spot earlier this year. Touch of Thailand “Thai cuisine is increasingly popular and one of the most talked about subjects when Thailand is mentioned,” said Flg. Off. Chinawet Naressaenee, executive vice president of corporate general administration at Thai Airways International in his June 7 address. The importance of the nation’s distinctive cuisine was also the subject of a discussion, complete with tasty tidbits distributed by Rapeepan Luangaramrut, also known by her television name Khun Reed. She is one of the nation’s television chefs and president of the Khun Reed Corp. Each week, she shows Thais ways to enhance their lives through fine eating and living. Thailand has emerged from the devastating tsunami of 2004 a “mature destination” said Khun Sakthip Krairiksh, permanent secretary for the country’s Ministry of Tourism and Sport. He projected that 14.8 million tourists will visit the country this year, which marks the 80th birthday of the country’s ruler King Bhumibol Adulyadej. Krairiksh said the country’s new airport is emerging as an important gateway to the region and the country has launched a new marketing campaign called “Amazing Thailand.” Industry insiders took up the rest of the two days with discussions. Doug Bressler, director of foodservice operations for the Pacific at Continental Airlines led a discussion on the future of long-haul air travel by the region’s low-cost carriers. On hand to give their take on the subject was David Young general manager of inflight service at Qantas Airways, which operates a LCC called JetStar. Also on the panel was Nick Robinson manager of inflight services at AirAsia in Kuala Lumpur and Udum Tantiprasongchai chairman of Orient Thai Airlines Company which also operates a LCC domestic carrier called One-Two-Go. Though all operate in the LCC environment, the airlines do a brisk business with buy-on-board food service. Robinson said his airline’s food service sales have grown steadily and AirAsia set a goal of selling 28.4 million ringget (US$8.24 million) this year. Galley standardization was one of the many topics of the next panel discussion, moderated by PAX International’s Rick Lundstrom with a panel composed of Scott Coburn associate technical fellow at Boeing Commercial Airplanes, Take Tsuchihashi senior general manager of marketing and sales for aircraft interiors at Jamco in Tokyo; Kawin Asawachatroj, vice president of onboard catering and equipment administration department at Thai Airways and Patrick Yeung, general manager of Southeast Asia at Cathay Pacific Airways. The issue of a more standardized approach to galley manufacturing has long eluded the industry. However, Boeing is on the verge of launching its 787 aircraft with a new Boeing Standard galley approach. Coburn also requested help from the caterer and airline delegates for a new program that Boeing has launched, evaluating meal nutrition as it relates to galley systems in the 787. June 8 opened with the announcement of the new cooperative agreement between the two associations. Following the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding, Mary Ann Dowd of Continental Airlines and IFSA’s chair of its Government Affairs Committee talked about the updates to the second edition of the World Food Safety Guidelines that were prepared by representatives of the two associations a few years ago. A number of definitions have been clarified, said Dowd, and additional guidance on allergens and other hazards have been worked into what she said was a cleaner and easier to read volume. Dowd urged food service colleagues to remain vigilant to hazards that could affect the industry and to operate consistently. “I can tell you today there are companies in the Salinas Valley that will never come back” from the recent spinach contamination outbreak, she said. Pricha Sukchai, director of the corporate aviation security department and standard and general administration at Thai Airways ranged over the many security threats that faced the aviation industry in a lengthy presentation June 8. Caterers and suppliers need to be vigilant of the many threats from bio-chemical agents that can be carried aboard the aircraft at a variety of entry points. Security breaches can take place in many links of the supply chain. Sukchai said and catering can be particularly vulnerable. He urged companies to invest in the latest technology and boldly take the steps needed to match the potential threats in each situation they encounter. The last of Friday’s speakers was Ki Hyun Kwak, general manager of Korean Air Catering, Busan. The subject of his discussion was the airline’s comprehensive Internet based catering operation system called Korean Air e-Catering. The airline launched the proprietary system in 2003. The system is divided into two parts. The COS covers operational workings such as menu information, purchasing and production, inventory, ordering and billing. The ISIS is a portal that allows Korean Air and its customer’s access shared information on a variety of operational issues. The ISIS portal has saved Korean Air 5 percent on its meal costs and can track usage and others aspects of flight catering, supplying information instantly in parts of the operation that used to take months to track, said Kwak. |
