Aviation industry boom has knock-on effect on catering

Noi Bai Catering Service Joint Stock Company for instance generated turnover of VND653 billion ($27.6 million) last year, with its the catering business contributing 78 per cent. On average, the company earned VND1.4 billion per day from this segment.

Experts pointed to the strong growth in the aviation industry in recent years, which they said created opportunities for many related services like catering to develop.

According to the International Aviation Transport Association (IATA), in 2016-35 Viet Nam will be one of the world’s five fastest growing aviation markets in terms of passenger numbers.

In the next three years, the market is estimated to grow at 14 per cent on average and reach around 150 million passengers in 2025.

In 2018, there were 106 million passengers.

Dragon Securities Joint Stock Company (DSC) estimates that flights now need 120,000 meals per day.

But in spite of the surging demand, Viet Nam now has only four businesses in the airline catering service — Noi Bai Catering Service Joint Stock Company, Viet Nam Catering Service Joint Stock Company, Middle Airports Service Company, and Viet Nam Airline Caterers.

DSC said they supply only 62,000 meals a day, meeting only half the demand.

Meanwhile, both foreign and domestic airlines are vying with each other to start flying on new routes and increase the number of flights on existing routes as demand grows relentlessly.

This also means a constant rise in demand for catering on flights.

This has encouraged many companies to enter the segment.

Among them is FLC Group. It has submitted a proposal to the Ministry of Transport for a new airline catering service processing area at Tan Son Nhat International Airport in HCM City.

An FLC representative said the ministry has already issued a decision approving detailed planning for the airport for up to 2020.

The plan envisages having an airline catering service processing area together with a car park and office building.