Budget flyer AirAsia has won the Catering Innovation of the Year prize at the 2016 Onboard Hospitality Awards held in Hamburg, Germany recently, making it the only low-cost carrier to win in any of the 10 categories considered.
AirAsia won the award for its Barista in the Skies gourmet coffee product, which offers guests T&Co coffees – espresso, long black, cappuccino and caffe latte – freshly brewed using an onboard espresso machine by cabin crew who have trained as professional baristas. The product is currently only available on AirAsia Malaysia (flight code: AK).
Judge Mike Pooley (right) presents the Catering Innovation of the Year 2016 award to a representative of AirAsia.
The awards were presented by Onboard Hospitality, a leading magazine of the hospitality industry focused on onboard catering, inflight technology, airline trends, innovations and sustainability issues.
Judge Mike Pooley said about Barista in the Skies: “This is a great concept as it reverse engineers the coffee making process to create specialist coffees such as cappuccino or latte possible in the air.”
AirAsia Head of Commercial Spencer Lee commented, “We are thrilled to win the Onboard Hospitality Award for Catering Innovation of the Year. When AirAsia and T&Co started this service, we knew we were onto something good and this award is proof of that. It is a real testament to the commitment AirAsia has to innovation, not just in terms of technology, but also taking our inflight service to the next level for our guests.”
