The contracts will see Sodexo provide services at the Gulf Air lounge at Heathrow Terminal 4 and to the United Airlines lounge at the new Heathrow Terminal 2.
Chris John, managing director of Sodexo Prestige, Sodexo’s Sport, Leisure and Travel division, said: “This is a fantastic achievement for our aviation business which is going from strength to strength. We understand the importance of providing a world-class service and look forward to this opportunity to build on our portfolio at London Heathrow. We have a wealth of experience in airport lounge operations across the world, and look forward to bringing this to Gulf Air and United Airlines.”
The three-year deal with Gulf Air will generate £600k-a-year and will see Sodexo provide hospitality, catering, bar, front-of-house and housekeeping services at the Falcon Gold Lounge – the airline’s premium lounge for around 30,000 passengers a year.
Nazneen Elhersh, airport manager for Gulf Air, said: “Sodexo were awarded the contract having demonstrated a high level of catering service delivery, together with culinary expertise and creative menu development. The team showed their passion and customer service orientated approach and we are looking forward to a successful and productive partnership.”
Sodexo’s contract with United Airlines will see Sodexo provide catering, bar, front-of-house and cleaning services at both the United Airlines first class and business departure lounge and arrival lounge at the new £2.5bn Terminal 2 (T2).
Sodexo, which has an existing contract with United Airlines in the US where it operates 23 club lounges across 14 cities, will service an estimated 60,000 passengers a year at the airline’s departure lounge and 30,000 passengers per annum at its arrival lounge.
Nina Moore, United Airlines’ senior manager of United Club operations, said: “We want to offer our customers travelling through Heathrow the best levels of service on the ground as well as in the air, and with their excellent track record as a high-quality provider of airport lounge services we believe Sodexo are the ideal partners to deliver this."