Sodexo double boosts aviation portfolio

Sodexo has won two contracts to provide airport lounge services at London Heathrow.

The contracts will see Sodexo provide services at the Gulf Air lounge at Heathrow Terminal 4 and to the United Airlines lounge at the new Heathrow Terminal 2.

Chris John, managing director of Sodexo Prestige, Sodexo’s Sport, Leisure and Travel division, said: “This is a fantastic achievement for our aviation business which is going from strength to strength. We understand the importance of providing a world-class service and look forward to this opportunity to build on our portfolio at London Heathrow. We have a wealth of experience in airport lounge operations across the world, and look forward to bringing this to Gulf Air and United Airlines.”

The three-year contract with Gulf Air will generate £600k-a-year and will see Sodexo provide hospitality, catering, bar, front-of-house and housekeeping services at the Falcon Gold Lounge – the airline’s premium lounge for around 30,000 passengers a year.

Gulf Air is the national carrier of the Kingdom of Bahrain and a pioneering airline with a network that stretches from Europe to Asia.

Nazneen Elhersh, airport manager for Gulf Air, said: “Sodexo were awarded the contract having demonstrated a high level of catering service delivery, together with culinary expertise and creative menu development. The team showed their passion and customer service orientated approach and we are looking forward to a successful and productive partnership.”

Sodexo’s contract with United Airlines will see Sodexo provide catering, bar, front-of-house and cleaning services at both the United Airlines first class and business departure lounge and arrival lounge at the new £2.5bn Terminal 2 (T2).

Sodexo, which has an existing contract with United Airlines in the US where it operates 23 club lounges across 14 cities, will service an estimated 600,000 passengers a year at the airline’s departure lounge and 30,000 passengers per annum at its arrival lounge.

Nina Moore, United Airlines’ senior manager of United Club operations, said: “We want to offer our customers travelling through Heathrow the best levels of service on the ground as well as in the air, and with their excellent track record as a high-quality provider of airport lounge services we believe Sodexo are the ideal partners to deliver this.”

Replacing the old terminal demolished in 2009, the privately-funded T2 will eventually serve 20 million passengers a year. T2 marks the latest phase of an £11 billion transformation of Heathrow, the UK's largest airport and the world's busiest international airport, carrying over 68 million passengers and 1.3 million tons of cargo each year.

Sodexo has more than 70 airport lounge operations in more than 80 cities across a total of 23 countries. In addition to Gulf Air and United Airlines, its aviation clients comprise Virgin Atlantic, Emirates, American Airlines, Malaysia Airlines and International Airlines Group’s head office at Heathrow.