Based in Brussels, the organisation will monitor and support regulatory initiatives - including food, health and safety, environmental and taxation affairs - at global, European and national level.
President of the Strategic Committee, Erdmann Rauer, explained: “The ideas brought up and discussions that took place during our first Strategic Committee meeting clearly underlined the need for and the purpose of the ACA.
“Initially, we will focus our efforts on dealing with the regulatory challenges in Europe that presently require particular attention. Mid-term, however, we are targeting a global reach of our activities and initiatives in order to leverage the combined know-how of our industry in order to foster the quality, safety and reliability of our services and products for our airline customers and the passengers.”
Open to all companies with “sizeable international activities” in the airline catering business, the association’s strategy will be determined by a Strategic Committee currently comprising: Robin Padgett, dnata chief executive; Attila Dogudan, Do & Co chief executive; Gate Group chief executive, Xavier Rossinyol; Erdmann Rauer, chief executive of the LSG Group, and co-president of Newrest, Olivier Sadran.
Managing director Fabio Gamba added: “I am very excited about the opportunity to shape this brand new Association as its first managing director.
“The airline caterers bring a wealth of experience and know-how in handling a central and complex part of the commercial aviation business. I see great benefits for all stakeholders in bringing this know-how together to improve regulations and standards in the industry.”