Aero Contractors, one of the oldest airlines in the country, on Thursday announced plans to launch onboard sales catering services on all its domestic destinations, while suspending its regular free distribution of snacks to passengers.
The product, Sky Snax, which is only going to be available in the economy class cabin of the airline, is aimed at providing passengers with the option of purchasing breakfast, lunch or dinner on board the carrier's flights from a selected menu.
"From November 16, passengers on our airline will have choices to make from our range of menus," said Shaf Syed, managing director of the airline.
Mr. Syed outlined the menus to include sandwiches, toasted sandwiches, variety of snacks, beverages and soft drinks, adding that the products will be within a range of N50 to N400 depending on the passenger's substantial budget.
Asked if the airline will continue with the regular free catering services served onboard, Mr. Syed disclosed that the distribution of free meals in-flight Aero will be suspended, stressing that the economic situation confronting companies worldwide, and airlines in particular requires thorough streamlining of cost.
"These are hard times, not just to airlines, but for companies globally; so airlines now have to focus on cutting cost," he said. "Any of our esteemed customer that wants to be served meal while onboard our aircraft will have to pay for the service; for when you pay for a fare, that excludes the meal onboard."
The carrier's boss disclosed that companies need to strategize in order stay alive, adding that financial stability is paramount for airlines to thrive in the prevailing "harsh economic downturn."
"If survival is the name of the game in the industry, then we have to look at some of these things," he said. "After safety in this aviation sector, the next thing is financial stability."
Paul Bryan, commercial consultant for the airline, disclosed that the carrier had to introduce the product as a result of reports from their flight crew members and customers on issues concerning their in-flight menu.
"We took a lot of feed back from our cabin crew and some of our passengers before we came up with this idea," he said.
Mr. Bryan further disclosed that the airline went for snacks rather than solid food because of the flight duration on routes which it covers domestically.
"Flight times on most routes in this country are short and that is why we are going with snacks and drinks rather than rice or any other solid food," he said.
Early this year, Aero Contractors introduced low cost airfares of N5,000 and N7,000 which are to be booked online. The airline's boss disclosed that only about ten per cent of its domestic travellers patronized the carrier's online service at inception, stressing that the carrier now records over 70 per cent.
"We are happy with this development, and we are willing to do more, that is why we are offering our customers this exciting menu offer," he said.
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