Airline & Inflight Catering: Facility Planning, Logistics, Food Factories
Specialised consulting for airline caterers, food factories and logistics operations, from capacity analysis to facility design, right-sizing and commissioning. Active across Europe, the Middle East and Asia.
What an airline catering consultant does
Airline catering companies operate under three constraints at once: flight schedules that concentrate demand into narrow peaks, hygiene regimes that dictate how a building may be laid out, and cost per meal that decides whether a contract is profitable. A facility that ignores any of the three becomes expensive to run long before it becomes too small.
DSC-Consult advises airline catering companies, flight kitchens and food factories on how the building and the process fit together. We analyse capacity against real flight data, design the layout around hygiene zoning and material flow, and support tendering, commissioning and ramp-up. We recommend solutions independent of any system vendor. We do not sell equipment and we do not develop software.
Airline catering services we plan and optimise
Airline catering facility planning
Layout, hygiene zoning, equipment and building envelope for new flight kitchens and extensions.
Capacity analysis and right-sizing
Demand modelling against flight schedules so the facility is sized for the operation, not for the peak of the peak.
Airline catering logistics
Trolley flows, dispatch lanes, AGV routing and the interface to hi-loader and ramp operations.
Commissioning and ramp-up
Tendering support, factory and site acceptance, handover and the first weeks of live production.
Inflight catering operations face structural multi-pressure: passenger numbers are growing again, facilities built in the 2000s are reaching their capacity and hygiene limits, while requirements for service quality, food safety and sustainability keep rising. Investments in new or expanded facilities lock in capital for 20–30 years. Wrong decisions on sizing, layout or process design are expensive and hard to reverse.
DSC-Consult supports caterers, airlines and investors in this situation with interdisciplinary teams of food technologists, hygiene engineers, planners and aviation operations specialists. More than 30 completed inflight catering and logistics projects across Europe, the Middle East and Asia.
Facility Design & Right-Sizing
Layout planning and dimensioning of new and existing inflight catering facilities with the aim of a demonstrable CAPEX reduction.
- Spatial programming and zoning (production, storage, tray set, dispatch, utilities)
- Hygiene zoning per HACCP and international food safety standards
- Material flow modelling and layout engineering
- Equipment selection and integration planning
- 2D and 3D layout design including BIM 360-based planning
- Right-sizing methodology with CAPEX reduction of up to 30% vs. conventional dimensioning
- Compliance engineering for IFS Food, ISO 22000, HACCP and airline-specific audit standards
Process Engineering & Automation
Process design and automation planning for high-throughput catering operations, from manual to highly automated facilities.
- 3D production flow modelling
- Human-robot collaboration (HRC) planning for tray-set lines
- AGV integration for trolley logistics
- Standard operating procedures and shift models
- Digital workflow integration and production control
- Performance benchmarking and KPI frameworks
Capacity Planning & Operational Consulting
Capacity analysis, performance benchmarking and optimisation of existing operations based on real flight data and production simulation.
- Flight schedule data analysis and passenger volume modelling
- Service class mix and meal complexity modelling
- Peak hour and peak day load analysis
- Production simulation to identify real capacity bottlenecks
- Growth scenarios and phased expansion planning
- Structural operational audits and improvement roadmaps
Flight Data Analysis & Dashboards
Flight data APIs and custom dashboards for data-driven capacity planning and production control.
Airport Overview
Daily departures, airlines and destinations
Departure Analysis
Flight types, weekdays and peak hours
Production Planning
Meals, equipment and capacity scenarios
Tendering, Procurement & Commissioning
Support from tendering and supplier selection through to commissioning and ramp-up.
- Technical specifications for equipment and construction tenders
- Supplier evaluation and negotiation support
- Factory acceptance testing and site acceptance testing
- Commissioning management and ramp-up planning
- Performance verification against design specifications
Selected References
SATS Singapore
Optimisation Study (completed)
„SATS was looking for optimisation potential in a high-volume existing inflight catering operation."
Structured operational audit, material flow and process analysis, plus a prioritised optimisation roadmap for an existing large-scale facility.
CATRION
Greenfield Planning + Brownfield Optimisation (ongoing)
„CATRION required both planning of new facilities and optimisation of existing operations to support significant capacity growth."
Facility design for new sites and parallel optimisation of existing facilities. The project is currently in implementation.
Gate Gourmet
Greenfield Planning (ongoing)
„Gate Gourmet engaged DSC-Consult for the planning of new facilities to expand its global network."
Facility design and engineering for new-build projects. The project is currently in implementation.
Al Rostamani Group (UAE)
Logistics Project
„Al Rostamani needed a future-proof logistics and material flow concept for a large-scale operation in the UAE."
Material flow analysis, layout and facility planning, plus design of internal logistics structures.
Frozen Food Operations
200,000 meals per year (delivered)
„An international food producer required the design and delivery of a frozen food production facility for convenience and catering."
Complete facility planning, process design and commissioning of a frozen food operation with an annual capacity of approximately 200,000 meals.
Client Voices
"DSC-Consult demonstrated solid expertise in the inflight catering industry, particularly in areas such as facility layout optimisation, spatial planning, hygiene zoning, and process flow design. Their practical recommendations supported the development of a solution that meets both our current needs and future operational requirements."
"We have found DSC-Consult to be a highly experienced & supportive partner, with a deep understanding of the inflight catering & food service industries. Their team introduced us to many innovative solutions, which will clearly lead to significant process improvements in terms of both efficiency & sustainability."
Our Project Methodology
Analysis & Concept
- Needs Assessment
- Benchmarking
- Concept Development
- Business Case
Design & Planning
- Facility Layout
- 3D Planning (BIM 360)
- Equipment Selection
- Workflow Design
Tendering
- Tender Documents
- Supplier Evaluation
- Contract Negotiation
- Procurement Support
Implementation
- Construction Supervision
- Commissioning
- Testing & Handover
- Training
Why DSC-Consult
Our teams built their practice in the inflight catering market and combine food technology expertise with engineering, BIM 360 planning, right-sizing methodology and HRC/AGV competence. We combine food technology expertise with deep engineering capability, BIM 360 planning, right-sizing methodology and HRC/AGV competence.
Our methodology is designed for mid-sized operations as well as for large facilities producing over 400,000 meals per day.
Our consulting approach: We work as operational project partners, from the initial concept through to performance verification after ramp-up.
Your contacts: Marlene Sommer and Torsten Brendel lead the inflight catering practice at DSC-Consult.
Direct contact: tb [at] dsc-consult [dot] com
Frequently Asked Questions
What services does DSC-Consult provide in inflight catering?
DSC-Consult consults across four core areas: Facility Design & Right-Sizing, Process Engineering & Automation, Capacity Planning & Operational Consulting, and Tendering, Procurement & Commissioning. In practice these areas often overlap, from feasibility study to performance verification after commissioning.
Does DSC-Consult plan complete large-scale facilities, and up to what size?
Yes. DSC-Consult plans inflight catering facilities from mid-size operations up to mega-facilities with capacities of more than 400,000 meals per day. Methodology, tools (BIM 360, 3D production flow modelling) and team experience are designed for this scale.
What does "Right-Sizing" mean and how does it affect capital costs?
Right-sizing is a structured methodology that tests default assumptions about facility size against real flight schedule data, production simulation and international benchmarks. In individual projects, this approach has reduced capital costs by up to 30% compared with conventional sizing, at full operational capacity.
Which regions does DSC-Consult cover for inflight catering projects?
Our inflight catering work focuses on Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Through our offices in Weinheim, Dubai and Singapore we support international projects directly on site.
At what project size is consulting worthwhile?
We work both on the optimisation of existing operations and on new-build or rebuild projects. The technical and organisational complexity of a project matters more than the size of the operation.
What does inflight catering consulting cost?
This depends on scope. Short studies, feasibility assessments and operational audits start at a few consulting days. Complete facility planning for new builds typically spans several months to years and is billed in phases (concept, design, tender, realisation). Individual proposal after initial discussion.
Do you also support implementation and commissioning?
Yes. Beyond concept and planning, we support tendering, supplier selection, construction supervision, factory and site acceptance testing, commissioning and ramp-up through to performance verification against the design specifications.
What is the difference between airline catering and inflight catering?
The two terms describe the same field from different angles. Airline catering is the more common term for the business and the companies operating in it. Inflight catering points at the product on board. In planning terms there is no difference. DSC-Consult works on the facilities, processes and logistics behind both.
When should an airline catering company bring in an external consultant?
Three moments are typical: before a greenfield project is committed, when an existing facility reaches its capacity limit and expansion is being considered, and when a contract is being tendered and the cost per meal has to be defended. In each case the decision is made long before the building is drawn.
How does DSC-Consult differ from large engineering firms?
We specialise in inflight catering, food factory and logistics planning. Our teams have project experience in catering operations, not just engineering methodology. We understand flight schedule dependencies, airline-specific service standards and the daily operation of a catering facility, and we design facilities accordingly.
Inflight Catering Articles
How the zones of a facility are separated and which design decisions follow from that is covered in our article on hygiene zoning.
Projects in the Asia Pacific region are run out of DSC Singapore, and projects in the Gulf region and Saudi Arabia are run out of DSC Dubai.
Quality, Security & Compliance
ISO 9001 certified quality management
ISO 9001 certified quality management across all consulting processes
GDPR-compliant data handling
Structured data protection processes in all projects
NDA standard
Standard non-disclosure agreement with all clients
Four offices worldwide
Weinheim (operational headquarters), Simmern (registered office), Dubai, Singapore