LSG Sky Chefs Catering Egypt established
Joint Venture Agreement signed by Egyptair, EAS and LSG Sky Chefs
Cairo, Egypt and Neu-Isenburg, Germany — EgyptAir In-flight Services and LSG Sky Chefs announced today the signing of a joint venture agreement to establish LSG Sky Chefs Catering Egypt SAE in Cairo, the second busiest airport in Africa after Johannesburg. Joint venture partner EgyptAir In-flight Services (EAIFS) holds 70 percent of the shares, while LSG Sky Chefs and Egyptian Aviation Services (EAS) are minority shareholders with 15 percent each. LSG Sky Chefs will head the entire operation with an experienced management team.
“Today, we are happily starting our collaboration with LSG Sky Chefs, the well-known and respected international player in the in-flight services industry,” said Major General Abd El-Salam Helmy, Chairman of EgyptAir In-flight Services after the signing ceremony. “Through this joint venture agreement EgyptAir aims to contribute to the development of Cairo as a catering and logistics platform for Africa and the Middle East.” The agreement was signed by Major General Abd El-Salam Helmy, Air Vice-Marchal Monir Thabit, Chairman of Egyptian Aviation Services, and Thomas Nagel, COO of LSG Lufthansa Service Holding AG / LSG Sky Chefs in the presence of Egypt’s Minister of Aviation, Ahmed Mohamed Shafik.
“We have been present in Cairo for more than 30 years and we are very happy to expand our activities with this joint venture agreement,” added Thomas Nagel. “With LSG Sky Chefs Catering Egypt SAE we strengthen our presence in Africa and widen our gateway to the Middle East with an eye on further expansion in this thriving region.”
When LSG Sky Chefs established a catering unit in Cairo in 1978, it was its first one outside of Germany. Since 1992, the in-flight services provider has been operating a customer service center with EAS under a management contract. The combined catering activities of EAIFS, EAS and LSG Sky Chefs will increase the amount of meals produced in the facility from the current 2,000 to 7,200 meals per day. The planning phase for the operational transfer has already started in tandem with the building of a new facility with state-of-the-art technology according to international food safety and hygiene standards.
About EGYPTAIR
EGYPTAIR is the world-renowned national airline of Egypt, based in the cosmopolitan city of Cairo. In more than 76 years, EGYPTAIR has experienced extraordinary growth, taken the lead to be the first airline in the Middle East and Africa and the seventh in the world to join IATA and become a treasured brand. Throughout its 76 years of service and, as a result of continuous investments, EGYPTAIR has successfully extended its network over the years to reach more than 1,624 weekly departures to 69 cities in 44 countries carrying more than 7.2 million passengers in 2007/2008 with an increase of 20% comparing to same period of last year. Currently EGYPTAIR has one of the most modern fleets with an average age of eight years which consists of 51 aircrafts. In 2004, EGYPTAIR demonstrated the scale of its commitment to the highest standards of safety by being the first IOSA certified airline in the Middle East and Africa. EGYPTAIR is a member of Star Alliance since July 2008.
About LSG Sky Chefs
LSG Sky Chefs is the world’s largest provider of in-flight services. These include airline catering, in-flight equipment and logistics as well as the management of onboard service and in-flight retail. The group is also the industry leading expert in managing the complete in-flight service supply chain for several airlines. LSG Sky Chefs partners with more than 300 airlines worldwide and operates some 200 customer service centers in 50 countries, producing around 418 million airline meals a year. In 2007, the companies belonging to LSG Sky Chefs Group achieved consolidated revenues of 2.4 billion.