by Lufthansa Flyer | Jun 28, 2012 | Airlines |
In an exciting new catering program by Austrian Airlines (A Lufthansa Group Carrier), passengers booking economy class tickets from Vienna will now have the opportunity to order their in-flight meals from an A-La-Carte menu from DO & CO. Eligible flights include Long Haul and intra-European flights that originate in Vienna (except for flights to Prague, Zagreb, Budapest and Charters). Departures from other Austrian airports are not currently part of the program.
For €15, passengers can now select hot or cold dishes that will replace their normal in-flight meal (For long haul flights, this only replaces your main warm meal). No doubt the a-la-carte menu options will offer better options. More importantly, passengers will now have several choices instead of the “Chicken” versus “Beef” dilemma that most passengers are often faced with.
The a-la-carte order can be placed online up to 36 hours before departure to as late as 1 hour before departure if you use the DO & CO A-La-Carte Desk near Check In Area 3.
The process is simple. All that you need to do is visit the DO & CO A-La-Carte Website, enter the “PNR” code associated with your itinerary and that will take you to your menu options. (If anyone has a current Austrian PNR, I would love to hear what you found on the “other side”) – SEND SCREEN SHOTS! 🙂
DO & CO A-La-Carte Website
by Lufthansa Flyer | Jun 27, 2012 | Airlines |
According to a piece by Reuters, Lufthansa’s Catering Division, LSG Sky Chefs, may be put up for sale later this year in an attempt to further focus on it core operations and dispense with peripheral business units. Even though LSG is profitable it’s margins are relatively weak. It took €2.3 billion in revenue to generate a relatively soft €85 million operating profit. With a ratio like this, there are some evident risks.
The idea of dispensing the unit is in alignment with Lufthansa’s objective under their SCORE initiative which aims to improve operating margins by reducing or eliminating units that detract from their operating profits. Translated, it mean working “SMARTER”, not “HARDER”.
You may have not realized it, but LSG Sky Chefs has a worldwide reach. You regularly see their catering trucks throughout airports in the US and countries through out the world. United and Qantas are among LSG’s biggest clients. Overall LSG is responsible for 25% of airline catering world-wide. One of the recent challenges for airline catering has been dealing with airlines cutting their food-service aboard flights. These reductions obviously have a direct impact on operations dedicated solely to airline food service.
The primary suitors for such a deal will be most likely involve dedicated catering companies or private equity groups. According to the article, no specific decisions have been made, but bids may be welcomed starting in the 3rd or 4th quarter of 2012. It’s also not clear if Lufthansa will sell the entire unit outright or initially only a share of the operation.
Expect more on this development later this year.
by Lufthansa Flyer | Jun 26, 2012 | Airlines |
Noticed a new banner on Swiss.com tonight highlighting a contest that gives away 3 sets of tickets to the Swiss Museum of Transport (each set includes 4 tickets). For more information on the museum itself, please visit the Museum Website.
To enter, visit this link on Swiss.com. Be prepared to answer this question:
How many tablets of SWISS chocolate do SWISS crew members distribute on board in one month?
* 1 million
* 10,000
* 1,000
