Alpha - Qantas

Alpha extends with Qantas amid power plays in Australasia and Italy – 10/01/07
Source: ©The Moodie Report
By Dermot Davitt
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ITALY. Alpha Airports Group has extended its inflight duty free contract with Qantas for another six years. The news comes amid a series of power plays that will enhance its position in Australasia as well as in the key Italian market.

Besides its Qantas extension, catering division Alpha Flight Services has signed a contract to provide the catering and ancillary services for all of Air New Zealand's Australian flights.

The five-year contract takes effect from 14 February 2007 and will cover the airports of Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth and Cairns.

In the last three years, Alpha has doubled the size of its Australian business with significant contracts won with Malaysia Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Air Tahiti Nui and Royal Brunei in addition to some of the Pacific Island carriers such as Solomon Airlines and Air Vanuatu.

Alpha Airports Group Chief Executive Peter Williams said: "We are delighted to be working with Air New Zealand as their style of operation fits perfectly with our own. This a key geographical area for Alpha where we have scale, and we are extremely pleased with the successes that we have achieved to date."

In separate news Alpha's joint venture Servair Airchef, the Italian airline caterer and airport services company, has signed an agreement to purchase Ligabue Group's Verona and Venice Marco Polo catering units.

The acquisition, which will be effective from 10 January, is anticipated to contribute additional annual sales of €2 million to the group.

Servair Airchef is a 50:50 joint venture between Alpha and Servair providing inflight catering services from 23 airports across Italy. In addition, Servair Airchef operates 13 bars and 11 restaurants and food outlets at airports across Italy.

Servair Airchef currently caters in Venice and Verona to Alitalia, AirOne, Alpi Eagles, Air France, Eurofly and Neos. The new contract will allow expansion into Ligabue's broader customer base to include Delta Airlines, US Airways, Lufthansa and Iberia.

Peter Williams said: “The acquisition of the two catering units at these key Italian airports increases our already significant scale in the Italian market. We are particularly pleased to have the opportunity to service Delta Airlines' and US Airways' long haul flights at the rapidly expanding Venice airport.”