Singapore Airport Terminal Services (Sats) is setting up an inflight catering facility to provide meals for low-cost carriers (LCCs) and full-service airlines that require alternative meal offerings.

To be located at Sats' Inflight Catering Centre 2 in Changi, the facility will be operated by wholly owned subsidiary Country Foods. It is expected to be operational in January.

Sats will leverage on Country Foods' low-cost structure and expertise in frozen and shelf stable meal production to offer cost-effective, quality meals to airlines.

This dedicated low-cost inflight catering facility will provide an alternative platform that complements Sats' conventional airline catering.

It will enable Sats to serve different airline segments using different product offerings and cost structures, the company said in a statement yesterday.

Sats president and chief executive Clement Woon said the group had been working towards developing a sustainable LCC catering model in the past few months to serve the no-frills and basic service airlines more effectively.

'We have assimilated those salient attributes that have made LCCs successful, which is to provide a differentiated product that matches price with cost.'

Sats shares yesterday rose three cents to $1.47.

This article was first published in The Straits Times on September 17, 2008.