Air-India, Taj SATS tie up for in-flight food festival

National flag carrier Air-India has tied up with Taj SATS Air Catering to launch 'Gourmet Flight', a new cuisine programme, on the Mumbai-London route.

Taj SATS, the joint venture company of the Taj group and Singapore Airport Terminal Services (SATS), will deploy a chef in Air-India flights for this purpose.

Air-India Chairman and Managing Director Vasudevan Thulasidas said that this onboard food festival will start from January 5 and end on January 31.

"Based on the feedback, the airline plans to implement the same on other routes in a phased manner. This will help the airline understand the preferences of frequent flyers," said Thualsidas.

According to senior Air-India executives, the new menu includes a variety of appetizers, salads, soups, entrees, desserts and beverages which is a mix of French, Continental and Indian cuisines. "The new menu "" non-vegetarian and vegetarian- will be available for all classes," they said.

Thulasidas said the airline was planning to redesign and innovate the in-flight services. "We are designing even wine and menu cards for enhancing the inflight services," he said.

On the latest fare war launched by Air Sahara on India-UK route, he said that the Air-India fares were quite competitive and there was no need for a kneejerk reaction.

Referring to the initial public offer (IPO), Thulasidas said the company was waiting for a comprehensive report from its IPO advisor DSP Merrill Lynch to finalise the percentage of stake dilution. "We will hit the capital market after complying with all regulations. The IPO will take place this year," he said.

He downplayed reports on the resignations of Air-India Express pilots."We are recruiting the required number of pilots for Air-India Express and are also exploring more desitnations including Gulf and South East Asia. The airline has posted over Rs 5 crore net profit in its first 6 months," he added.