INTERNATIONAL. Dnata, DO & CO, gategroup, the LSG Group and Newrest have launched a non-profit international organisation to represent and promote the common interests of the airline catering industry.
The Airline Catering Association (ACA) is based in Brussels, Belgium. The partners said it would be concerned with food, health and safety issues; environmental matters; and taxation affairs; among other topics. It will also monitor and support relevant regulatory initiatives at the global, European and national levels.
The association is open to all companies with sizeable international activities in the airline catering business.
A Strategic Committee features a representative [the CEO or another member of the Executive Board] from each member company. Currently, it consists of dnata CEO Robin Padgett, DO & CO CEO Attila Dogudan, gategroup CEO Xavier Rossinyol, LSG Group CEO Erdmann Rauer, and Newrest Co-President Olivier Sadran.
“The ideas brought up and discussions that took place during our first Strategic Committee meeting clearly underlined the need for and the purpose of the ACA,” said Rauer, who is also President of the ACA Strategic Committee.
“Initially, we will focus our efforts on dealing with the regulatory challenges in Europe that presently require particular attention. Mid-term, however, we are targeting a global reach of our activities and initiatives in order to leverage the combined know-how of our industry in order to foster the quality, safety and reliability of our services and products for our airline customers and passengers.”
Fabio Gamba, who has experience with trade bodies and in the air transport industry, will become Managing Director of the association. He will start his new role at the beginning of March 2018.
“I am very excited about the opportunity to shape this new association,” Gamba said. “The airline caterers bring a wealth of experience and know-how in handling a central and complex part of the commercial aviation business. I see great benefits for all stakeholders in bringing this know-how together to improve regulations and standards in the industry.”
