Gate Gourmet wins Spanish airline catering contract

The airline offers food and beverages for purchase on board the aircraft. Gate Gourmet manages the complete program from menu design, sourcing, logistics coordination, and automation onboard and back office for all seven stations in Spain -- Barcelona, Madrid, Valencia, Seville, Bilbao, Malaga and Ibiza. In Barcelona and Madrid, logistics are being handled by the respective Gate Gourmet facilities, while at the remaining stations the business has been subcontracted to local operators. In addition to managing the entire business, Gate Gourmet also provides training courses in product marketing and sales techniques for the cabin crew and provides the airline's crew meals. "Vueling's merger partner Clickair has been a customer of Gate Gourmet since the carrier's start-up in 2006, and we have been privileged to gain valuable expertise in setting up and managing the airline's onboard retailing concept from scratch," said Philippe Op de Beeck, group senior vice president and president Europe and Africa. "We are thrilled with the new challenge, and we're very happy to apply our broad knowledge in this field to serve Vueling," said David de la Torre, managing director for Gate Gourmet Spain & Portugal. "Vueling is now the leading airline in Barcelona with 22 aircraft stationed there and has become our main customer in that location. The Gate Gourmet team is fully motivated to be a key partner in Vueling's future growth," he said.