Virgin Australia partners with gategroup to take inflight dining to new heights

Virgin Australia today announced a long-term relationship with Gate Gourmet – the airline catering brand of gategroup – that will see the caterer become the sole service provider for the major Australian airline.  

The six-year relationship will deliver a wide range of benefits to all Virgin Australia passengers, with Gate Gourmet providing inflight dining and handling to travellers flying across Asia, Australia, and North America. Virgin Australia operates around 400 domestic and approximately 50 international flights per day.

The partnership will see gategroup expand its Virgin Australia portfolio by 40 per cent, allowing both companies to drive operational and cost benefits while delivering continued improvements to the inflight passenger experience.

Virgin Australia’s catering operations will now be aligned with one strategic supplier, creating greater efficiency and control of onboard food and beverage offerings. 

Xavier Rossinyol, gategroup Chief Executive Officer said: “This is an exciting evolution of our relationship with Virgin Australia, which was voted Best Airline in Asia Pacific 2017 by Skytrax World Airline Awards. We are extremely proud to work with such a celebrated Australian airline. gategroup’s ongoing relationship with Virgin Australia further strengthens its position as a leading airline caterer in Oceania region, leveraging our commercial and retail innovations. It’s an exciting time for the industry and for pushing boundaries on what inflight meals and services can be.”

gategroup currently works closely with Virgin Australia’s head chef Luke Mangan to deliver the airline’s renowned business class meals across domestic and international flights.

Group Executive Virgin Australia Airlines, Rob Sharp said: “Food and beverage is such an important part of the overall travel experience and this relationship with gategroup will enable us to take our inflight dining experience to new heights. We are in the process of transforming the Virgin Australia food and beverage offering and today’s announcement will enable us to bring benefits to our guests more quickly. gategroup has been an excellent partner of ours for a number of years and we look forward to working with them more closely to provide the world’s most rewarding travel experience.”

The relationship will be effective from late June 2018, when Gate Gourmet will transition to the full service provider for Virgin Australia. The partnership will create around 100 jobs at gategroup which will be based around Australia.

Media Contacts

Libby Armstrong
Virgin Australia
libby.armstrong[at]virginaustralia.com | +614 00 814 573

Nancy Jewell
gategroup
njewell[at]gategroup.com | +41 44 533 7081

About gategroup
gategroup is the global leader in airline catering, retail-on-board and hospitality products and services. We provide passengers with superior culinary and retail experiences, leveraging our innovation and advanced technology solutions. Headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland, we deliver operational excellence through the most extensive catering network in the aviation industry, serving more than 700 million passengers annually from over 200 operating units in 60 countries/territories across all continents. In 2017, gategroup reached CHF 4.6 billion in revenues (preliminary and unaudited) and has approximately 43,000 employees worldwide. For further information, please visit www.gategroup.com

About Virgin Australia
Virgin Australia launched in 2000 and has since established itself as a contemporary, full-service airline with a reputation for exceptional customer service. The airline is committed to delivering the world’s most rewarding travel experience. In doing so, Virgin Australia has partnered with some of the world’s best airlines, Air New Zealand, Delta Air Lines, Etihad Airways and Singapore Airlines, opening up a combined network of more than 450 destinations.

Virgin Australia has developed an extensive flight network across Australia and the world and also provides Charter and Cargo services. It operates a modern fleet of around 130 aircraft that includes Airbus A330, Airbus A320, Boeing 777, Boeing 737, Embraer 190, ATR-72 turboprop and Fokker 100 aircraft.

Virgin Australia’s award-winning loyalty program, Velocity Frequent Flyer, offers its more than 8 million members with a range of genuine and unique benefits. In 2016, Velocity was awarded Program of the Year in the Middle East & Asia/Oceania category for the fourth consecutive year at the industry-coveted Freddie Awards.

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