Global Inflight Catering Market - Europe and Asia-Pacific Revenue Worst Hit by COVID-19

Dublin, June 15, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Inflight Catering Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2021 - 2026)" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The Inflight Catering Market is projected to register a CAGR of more than 5.7% during the forecast period (2021-2026).

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a full-scale crisis with the imposition of travel restrictions and suspension of flights in a global effort to contain the spread of the virus.

The aviation industry is in survival mode, crippled by the loss of traffic and revenues. According to the latest updates from IATA, ICAO, the Airports Council International (ACI), the UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), the World Trade Organization (WTO), and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the international air passenger traffic in 2020 is expected to experience a drop of about 50-55% as compared to 2020 baseline.

Airline Revenue-Per-Kilometer (RPK) is anticipated to drop by 48% compared to 2019 value. The airlines are expected to record potential losses amounting to USD 289 million to 387 billion in gross operating revenues. Europe and Asia-Pacific are anticipated to be the worst hit in terms of international passenger traffic and revenues.

Though food practices have always been the priority of the caterers, the pandemic has brought a new dynamic and essential safety protocols to professional commercial kitchens as the old protocols were designed for fending off foodborne illnesses only. The pandemic is also responsible for elevating catering standards in food safety, cleaning, and sanitizing, but resulting in inflight caterers incurring additional expenses to ensure the optimized standards.

Also, with the competition among the airlines increasing, they are opting for certain strategies that aim to enhance the inflight dining experience. These strategies range from the process of ordering to food serving. Such developments will have a long-term effect on the prospects of the market in focus during the forecast period.

Key Market Trends

Competition in the Industry to Enhance the Inflight Dining Experience

With the competition among the airlines increasing, they are opting for certain strategies that aim to enhance the inflight dining experience. These strategies range from the process of ordering to food serving. Additionally, to comply with hybrid operational scenarios while providing service to the customers, airlines are using different service strategies on different classes on the same flight. For instance, while providing high-level services at a premium price to high-value customers (in business and first-class), airlines are also offering lower price alternatives to passengers in economy class, thereby, establishing tier-based complimentary on-board services. To make the process of ordering the food easier for the passengers, airlines are providing options like meal pre-selection, meal pre-order, and mixed buy-on-board/ complimentary catering to the passengers.

The provision of pre-ordering meals has also helped to enhance the confidence of consumers, in favor of inflight food services. Pre-orders are significantly on the rise, with the provision of 'free' pre-order programs for the business and premium economy classes. However, in Asia-Pacific, paid pre-order is still generating lesser revenues, especially for the economy class. Some vendors have reduced the number of their pre-order offerings for the economy class.

Nevertheless, there have been a variety of new options devised in the paid pre-ordering of meals. The inflight catering market is expected to witness impressive levels of growth, as carriers consider options to improve the quality of food served on planes, which is the matter of concern in today's inflight catering industry. The versatility in cultural dining always adds to the comfort and interest of the travelers. For instance, in international flights flying to regions where there is a huge level of diversification in food habits, such as the Middle-East, caterers are designing meals in accordance with their understanding of the tastes of destination flyers. Therefore, the commuters appreciate the cuisine of the upcoming destination, helping them to familiarize themselves with the taste of the new culture.

Asia-Pacific to Dominate Market Share During the Forecast Period

Asia-Pacific is a vast inflight catering market in terms of culinary habits, and passengers from different regions vary in their culinary preferences. Though India and China are neighboring countries, the culinary food habits of people in these two countries are significantly different. Food habits of passengers from the north vary from those of the south in the same country. These variations are likely to help the catering suppliers invest more in these diversified menu types, thereby leading to the high growth of the region during the forecast period.

As per IATA, during 2019, the airlines operating in India witnessed a 5.1% YoY growth in air passenger traffic, indicating a relative slowdown from its 2018 growth statistics of 18.9% on account of several factors, including the bankruptcy of Jet Airways and weakening economic activity. Furthermore, the COVID-19 pandemic has drastically affected the aviation sector in the country with air passenger traffic shrinking by 65% on average during 2020.

However, the pandemic has caused slight modifications in the inflight catering services provided by the airlines. For instance, IndiGo, one of the leading LCC operators in the country now offers only pre-ordered meals and has removed the provision of any inflight purchase of meals. Prior to the outbreak, IndiGo offered a selection of food and beverages for sale onboard, which included vegetarian and non-vegetarian options. Healthy juices, lemonade, and aerated beverages were also available for sales. Besides, a wide choice of sugar-free health bars and drinks were also offered at competitive prices.

The customers who upgraded to Indigo Plus at the time of booking were also offered advanced seat assignment, along with a choice of meal (vegetarian or non-vegetarian), and a non-alcoholic drink. The absence of a regional policy on COVID-19 recommendations may hamper the growth of the market. However, several country-wise recommendations have been made as per the state of the pandemic in each country. On this note, in August 2020, the Ministry of Civil Aviation of India revised its recommendations pertaining to domestic and international air travel as per the revisions in the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) of handling the COVID-19 pandemic. As per the latest guidelines, the airlines are permitted to provide onboard meal services and pre-packed beverages to the passengers depending as per the policy of the concerned airline.

Competitive Landscape

Five major players dominate the market for inflight catering. However, when it comes to supplying from small and medium-size airports, the market is fairly fragmented with the presence of regional players. Demand for food with high quality and safety was the main reason for airlines to prefer catering from major manufacturers to the regional players. Further, these big players have increased their R&D spending exponentially to integrate innovation with culinary excellence. This has resulted in premium quality food for airline inflight catering. Gate Gourmet, LSG Sky Chefs, and SATS are some of the leading companies in the inflight catering market.

Key Topics Covered:

1 INTRODUCTION

2 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

3 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

4 MARKET DYNAMICS

5 MARKET SEGMENTATION (Market Size by Value - USD billion)

6 COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

7 MARKET OPPORTUNITIES AND FUTURE TRENDS

Companies Mentioned

• Gate Gourmet

• LSG Sky Chefs

• Sats Ltd.

• Cathay Pacific Catering Services (H.K.) Ltd.

• Dnata

• Flying Food Group

• Emirates Flight Catering

• IGS Ground Services

• Jetfinity

• Newrest International Group S.A.S

• Journey Group Plc.

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/lno142

CONTACT: CONTACT: ResearchAndMarkets.com Laura Wood, Senior Press Manager press@researchandmarkets.com For E.S.T Office Hours Call 1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call 1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900