Malaysia Airlines Berhad said it is reinstating hot meal services onboard routes affected by its recent catering transition, with the arrival of 10 new hi-lift trucks ahead of schedule.
The under-fire airline said it anticipates the arrival of another 10 hi-lift trucks in the coming months, while it looks to enhance and fine-tune its pre-packaged meal components during the interim period, with the aim of fully restoring the full meal service by mid-November this year.
MAS said the hi-lift trucks are an essential part of the overall airline inflight meal process they ensure that the meal carts are uplifted at the correct temperatures, preserving the freshness of hot and ambient meals, while also maintaining stringent practices throughout the process. In the absence of the hi-lifts, it had temporarily suspended hot meal offerings to ensure food safety is not compromised.
Since 11 September 2023, Malaysia Airlines has reintroduced simplified hot meals for Business Class passengers on the Bangkok and Denpasar routes. Starting 15 September, Economy Class passengers traveling to Bangkok and Denpasar, as well as passengers on all cabin class on flights from Kuala Lumpur to Kota Kinabalu, Kuching, Manila and Hong Kong, will also be served hot meals. Business Class passengers heading to all South Asia sectors will be given the Malaysia Airlines satay. Other ASEAN cities will be served with hot meal in stages.
Meanwhile, passengers traveling to other South Asian, North Asian and Australia destinations will continue to receive the simplified hot meals onboard.
On 1 September 2023, Malaysia Airlines introduced revised inflight meal offerings on routes previously served by its former catering provider which include its signature peanuts and beverages, refreshments in ready-to-go boxes with pre-packaged pastries, chocolates, biscuits, and drinks or hot meals in disposable containers presented on a simplified tray setup. Services on the London, Aukland, Jeddah, Madinah, Osaka and Haneda routes remained unaffected.
MAB established a temporary distribution centre in KLIA, to manage the assembly of F&B items by respective suppliers and the uplifting of meal boxes onboard via hi-lift trucks. The centre’s operations are in accordance with standards set by the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM) and is endorsed by the local health authorities for its cleanliness, hygiene and environment – meeting food safety and hygiene standard.
The longstanding catering contract between MAB and Brahim’s Food Services (BFS) ended on 31 August 2023 after extensive negotiations between the two parties since Q4 2022 did not result in an amicable agreement. BFS had in early June 2023, served MAB with a notice of service discontinuation effective 1 July 2023, while discussions were still ongoing for a new contract. BFS subsequently retracted the notice and agreed to extend service until 31 August 2023.
