Advanced insulation in new Bucher ARCTICart

Sustainability and flexibility are some of the features Bucher is touting in the ARCTIcart

Bucher’s ARCTICart, featured at the company’s stand in Hamburg this year, is one of the latest solutions for airlines looking to reduce carbon footprints while transporting food products over long periods and, in some cases, multiple routes.

Traditionally, airlines keep meals and drinks chilled over extended period by using either dry ice or with active chilling though refrigeration. The latter uses power and often requires maintenance, says Francisco Aguilera, CEO of Bucher Aerospace Corp. in Seattle. The ARCTICart, on the other hand is made of “extreme thermal insulation material” in a proprietary process that the company hopes to be selling to airline customers sometime this year.

“Bucher engineers developed a unique design that minimizes any heat leak between the outside and the inside of the cart,” Aguilera tells PAX International. “This aspect complies with the demanding structural requirement of any ATLAS in-flight cart.”

With its capability, Bucher says the ARCTICart is effective for return-catering in long-haul routes in high-density cabins. In addition, it can be used for multi-segment catering in single aisle aircraft, with a cycle of two to four flights. Additionally, the ARCTIcart can be operated on routes to destinations that may have limited catering support.

“Due to food safety or lack of a kitchen network, ARCTICart helps, materializing return catering, even if the galley configuration is limited,” says Aguilera.