Sats and DHL team up for new airline initiative
Airport and food services provider Sats has joined forces with logistics giant DHL to offer carriers such as Singapore Airlines (SIA) new ways to better manage food and other resources.
The initiative will deliver cost savings for airlines while giving travellers more choice of in-flight meals and a greater array of duty-free goods, among other benefits.
It will focus on India, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
Sats and DHL said the memorandum of understanding combines the firms' strengths: "The comprehensive... solution spans demand planning, menu customisation and planning, to supply chain consultancy and reverse logistics."
Reverse logistics involves moving goods from where they are consumed back to their point of origin for reuse or disposal.
Sats and DHL added: "With end-to-end visibility, airlines will be able to achieve higher consistency, better inventory management, reduced waste and greater customer insights."
They also said the tie-up will remove the need for airlines to seek out different providers for different services.
Being able to better predict demand means airlines will not have to hang on to inventory unnecessarily and reduces warehouse costs.
DHL will contribute to the partnership through its expertise in areas such as using data analytics to estimate demand and in generating revenue from food waste, while Sats brings its experience in large-scale catering and ground handling.
Sats executive vice-president for food solutions Kerry Mok said last Friday: "Our partnership with DHL extends our global reach through reliable third-party logistics, allowing us to partner with airlines across their entire flight network."
Get The New Paper on your phone with the free TNP app. Download from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store now
