PETALING JAYA: The catering issues faced by Malaysia Airlines is set to be resolved with the national carrier taking steps to introduce new in-flight meals in the coming months as it works with new partners to enhance its offerings on board.
The airline, which ended its contract with its anchor caterer Brahim’s Food Services (BFS) on Aug 31 after both parties were unable to achieve an amicable agreement, has been getting a barrage of complaints after affected routes saw passengers served with pre-packed meals or revised meal offerings as the airline transitions to a new catering service.
Passengers, especially those flying domestic routes, said the food and beverage (F&B) offerings did not commensurate with ticket prices after MAS resorted to “self-catering” after its deal with Brahim’s ended.
However, flights departing from Kuala Lumpur to Auckland, Jeddah, Madinah, London, Osaka and Haneda remain unaffected, the airline stated.
“Malaysia Airlines is committed to addressing this issue and strives to provide passengers with a meal service that matches the value of their tickets while upholding our signature Malaysian Hospitality throughout their journey.
“We are actively working to reinstate hot meals and special meal pre-booking options on all impacted routes, and collaborating with new partners to introduce fresh in-flight meal choices in the coming months, thereby enhancing our on board offerings to ensure a satisfying dining experience for our passengers,” said the Malaysia Aviation Group (MAG) when contacted by The Star yesterday.
As for how long the temporary catering arrangement is expected to persist, MAG said full meal offerings are expected to resume in phases for affected sectors.
Effective Sept 11, it has reinstated hot meals for business class passengers on flights to Bangkok and Denpasar.
“We are expecting the arrival of additional high lifts equipped with proper storage capabilities throughout this month and into October.
“Our goal is to accelerate the process of reinstating hot meals and the pre-order of special meal offerings to more affected destinations.
“We remain committed to collaborating with our partners to continually improve our in-flight dining experience,” it said.
MAG also gave the assurance that no food is being prepared or cooked at its temporary distribution centre set up on the grounds of KLIA as alleged on social media.
“We would like to reiterate that we do not prepare and cook at our temporary distribution centre in KLIA.
“The distribution centre is established to manage the assembly of F&B items by respective suppliers, and the uplifting of airline meal carts on board via high lift trucks,” it said.
It added its operation is also in accordance with standards set by the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM) and is endorsed by the local health authorities, thus meeting food safety and hygiene standards.
“Malaysia Airlines also sources its food from reputable suppliers for sectors with hot meals and sectors with pre-packed ready-to-eat F&B items while adhering to stringent food safety protocols throughout the supply chain, it said.
On the airline’s website, an update on Sept 6 said while food is provided on board, passengers have the option to bring their own meals, a policy that has been in place even before its disagreement with BFS.
Brahim’s Holdings Bhd executive chairman Datuk Seri Ibrahim Ahmad said post-Covid-19, BFS had negotiated with Malaysia Airlines for a three-year contract with a two-year extension option to take effect from Jan 1, 2023, but this fell through.
Following this, there were two ad-hoc contract extensions, the latest of which was extended for two months to Aug 31 to allow for more negotiations, but it did not work out.
Ibrahim said the cessation of the arrangement on Aug 31 was due to failure to achieve an agreement over a new clause called “convenience termination”.
On what is next for BFS, he said that the company will continue to serve 35 airline customers, including Qatar Airlines, Emirates, All Nippon Airways and “five other Top 10 airlines and four-star airlines”, and the company is open to the possibility of growing its non-aviation catering business.
“We have started our non-aviation business like supply to supermarkets and cafe chains, which look promising,” said Ibrahim, who believes the business will survive due to it being “highly specialised”, other than the lack of industry players as most countries have only one or two airline catering companies, with the exception of Europe or the United States.
“The business will continue as long as air travel remains the best option for long distance travel as passengers need to be fed, especially on long journeys.”
