KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia Airlines Bhd will remain as the co-shareholder of Brahim's Food Services Sdn Bhd (BFS) as the carrier's parent Malaysia Aviation Group (MAG) has no immediate plans to sell a 30 per cent stake the airline owns in the in-flight catering company.
MAG group managing director Datuk Captain Izham Ismail said the status of the stake will be addressed when the time comes as currently the group is eyeing an opportunity to build its own in-flight catering facility by 2027.
"The catering facility that we envision can produce about 75,000 meals a day of which we believe 70-75 per cent is for MAG need. I don't discount that in the future, in a few years' time, it probably can be a proposition in the marketplace for us to offer catering products to other airlines.
"I will not discount that at this current time but now we're focused on MAG (group of airlines)," Izham told Business Times in an exclusive interview recently.
He added that MAG's future catering facility would be where the group could prepare or cook its own in-flight meals for Business Class passengers onboard Malaysia Airlines' signature routes such as London, Sydney, Doha and Narita, to name a few.
For Economy Class, MAG has an option of continuing to source the in-flight meals from its suppliers or prepare the meals themselves.
Currently, MAG does not prepare the in-flight meals onboard Malaysia Airlines, FlyFirefly Sdn Bhd (Firefly) and Amal by Malaysia Airlines.
Prior to the end of Malaysia Airlines-BFS partnership on Aug 31 2023, majority of the in-flight meals onboard Malaysia Airlines were prepared by BFS while some were handled by Pos Aviation Sdn Bhd.
Following the break-up, MAG now receives cooked in-flight meals from its various suppliers including MAS Awana Services Sdn Bhd and Pos Aviation to its new facility called MAG Catering Operations (MCAT) West in Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) area.
The MCAT West facility is solely a place to assemble the F&B items as well as dispatching the in-flight meals to the respective airplanes and uplifting the meals onboard using hi-lift trucks.
Izham said the facility is owned by MAG's subsidiary AeroDarat Services Sdn Bhd and partly managed by MAS Awana, which the group also has a stake in. The facility has about 400 workforce.
"We (Malaysia Airlines and BFS) parted ways. We went through many speed bumps in the early stage (when the partnership ended). Catering is not our core business. We were learning at the same time. We were forced to go on our own.
"Then we fast forward ourselves. We need a catering unit because we believe strongly that catering is core to deliver customer experience. So, from MCAT East we moved to MCAT West, which is a more permanent structure.
"From MCAT West, which can last at least three years or more, we build the kitchen facility," Izham said, adding that MAG could continue with its current model of outsourcing its in-flight meals if the catering facility project does not materialise.
However, Izham said there is demand for another local in-flight caterer to provide services to international airlines that fly to Malaysia even though the new facility will first focus on MAG airline subsidiaries' needs.
Should MAG enter the already small in-flight local catering scene, Malaysia would see a new player together with MAS Awana, Pos Aviation and BFS.
When asked about what would happen to the 30 per cent stake that Malaysia Airlines owns in BFS should MAG enters the in-flight catering market, Izham said it will be addressed when the time comes depending on the situation and the board's decision.
"The 30 per cent in BFS is there. I'll think about it later. But (most importantly) Malaysia Airlines need to cement itself on solid ground on this journey moving forward," he added.