Cathay - Limited catering EX LHR for the next few days

[Mal]

http://www.cathaypacific.com/cpa/en...efID=1579edd3a79b9210VgnVCM1000000ad21c39____

(Updated July 11)

Cathay Pacific regrets that very limited inflight catering service would be available for our flights departing London today and possibly over the next few days because of an emergency closure of Gate Gourmet in London, which caters for our London Hong Kong service. Our flight schedules to and from London are unaffected.

<snip>
We advise all customers on CX250, CX256, CX254 and CX252 departing Sunday to bring their own food or eat before travelling.

The cause was an gas explosion in a cargo area at LHR on Friday, restricting access to some buildings (including Gate Gourmet).

 

[haydensydney]

Interesting that there was no contingency or business continuity plan in place for this type of disruption: I would have thought that there would been some type of "back up plan" such as using another OW carrier's catering co etc.

Imagine being in F and eagerly awaiting a mouth watering lobster dish, instead your given a bag of chips!! I wouldn't be terribly impressed and would seek some form of compensation (not much, but something at least) if I was flying and experienced this reduction in service...

 

[Mal]

Interesting that there was no contingency or business continuity plan in place for this type of disruption: I would have thought that there would been some type of "back up plan" such as using another OW carrier's catering co etc.

I agree. It's strange that there is no alternative. It's not like LHR is a small airport in the middle of nowhere. And 4 flights/day isn't a huge number of passengers.

Could be something to do with some uniqueness in Cathay's requirements, but surely they can be worked around.

Would you like Salt'n'Vinegar or Tomato crisps Sir?

 

[nlagalle]

I agree. It's strange that there is no alternative. It's not like LHR is a small airport in the middle of nowhere. And 4 flights/day isn't a huge number of passengers.

Could be something to do with some uniqueness in Cathay's requirements, but surely they can be worked around.

Would you like Salt'n'Vinegar or Tomato crisps Sir?

Perhaps it's a number of carriers are out by the explosion not just CX?

 

[harvyk]

Perhaps it's a number of carriers are out by the explosion not just CX?

I'd say it's every carrier who uses Gate Gourmet for their catering would be experiencing problems.

The problem is it's not like another catering company can temporarily double their output to cover Gate Gourmet's share of the market.

Although I'm a little surprised a local hotel hasn't stepped upto the plate and offered to temporarily fill in the void... If a couple of them do it they would be able to cover Gate Gourmet's customers until they get back into their building.

 

[markis10]

Problem is the meals are prepared in CXs trolleys ahead of time, it may well be that there is no spare stock that would allow another caterer to pick up the slack, I am sure CX are onto it and being pessimistic in terms of the time frame. I am not sure a hotel would be able to pick up the slack, the airline food requirements are rather specific and normal options go are not available when it comes to reheating etc.