Construction of in-flight meals kitchen underway at Kanombe

The construction of a new facility to prepare in-flight meals at Kigali international Airport is underway. Most airlines rely on catering services from local hotels, which present a transportation challenge. “We hope the facility will help solve the challenges airlines have been encountering in transporting food from hotels,” a source at the Airport who preferred anonymity said. The facility is scheduled to be complete in the next two months. Efforts to get more information from the contractor, RwandAir or the Civil Aviation Authority were futile as they either turned down scheduled interviews or declined to comment. However, in an article published by a Nigerian media outlet, Dr Patrick Dele Cole, the chairperson of Airlines services and logistics catering company (ASL), a Nigerian based company was quoted saying that his company was looking to expand to Rwanda. “We are poised to expand to Rwanda and shall continue to explore opportunities to diversify our (ASL) operations, improve cost management, raise the level of quality and create competitive pricing structures,” Dele Cole said in an interview last year. According to sources, the company was granted a 15-year exclusive concession to build a new facility in Kigali. The National Carrier, RwandAir is also part of the venture. ASL is the largest Sub Saharan Africa Airline Catering Company. Once complete, the facility is expected to offer more employment opportunities for Rwandans and also cater for the growing traffic at Kigali International Airport. Passenger traffic has been increasing at an average of 15 per cent over the last couple of years and currently handles 600,000 passengers annually. The client list of ASL comprises major airlines including Emirates, Qatar, Lufthansa, and British Airways. According to the company website, ASL serves 1.5 million meals annually and provides services such as Lounge and Restaurants operations, as well as managing Duty Free outlets.