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Sky-high ambition on a plate (2)

By Wang Wen (China Daily)    11:16, October 02, 2013
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Workers prepare and package cooked food for in-flight service at Beijing Xinhua Airport Catering Co Ltd, which has about 15 percent of the in-flight food market in the capital. (Photo/China Daily)

But airline food is set to improve, as food manufacturers are experimenting with normal-temperature processes to keep the meals fresh.

The life of meals, which will be irradiated through high temperature and pressure facilities, can be prolonged.

"But the facilities will cost a lot, therefore normal-temperature processes cannot be a popular method," Liu said.

The civil aviation industry has to consider cost, since the industry's margins have been dropping.

All Chinese airlines made 388.98 billion yuan ($63.56 billion) in revenue in 2012, a 9.1 percent year-on-year increase, but their total profit was only 21.1 billion yuan, decreasing by 6.21 billion yuan during the same period, according to the Civil Aviation Administration of China.

The drop in airline income also affects the meal manufacturers. E-food Group, which has seven in-flight meal factories across the country, received only 368.75 million yuan from the in-flight meal arm of their business in 2012, down 4.59 percent year-on-year, despite the group producing 10.39 percent more in-flight meals, according to its financial report.

"Some of the airlines cut backups and some of them just cut the whole budget directly," Liu said.

The civil aviation authority also released a new policy in January stating that flight attendants are only allowed to begin work 20 minutes after take off and must stop work 30 minutes before landing.

The new policy means flights under two hours in length no longer have time to serve meals.

In-flight meal manufacturers have to search for other ways to expand their business, although their market share is relatively stable.

The growing market in chartered business flights and budget airlines provides opportunities for in-flight meal providers.

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(Editor:DuMingming、Gao Yinan)

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