LSG Group-owned Retail inMotion (RiM) has announced it has launched a new onboard retail service for Irish flag carrier Aer Lingus.

A ‘fully-dedicated retail management team’ has been assembled to grow inflight revenues and cost efficiencies for Aer Lingus, according to a statement, with RiM employing its proprietary onboard retail management software, Vector In-Flight, to take onboard payments, manage supply chain and warehouse logistics, and ensure end-to-end reconciliation and back-office support.

“Aer Lingus is an established market leader in the aviation industry and well-known for offering an outstanding onboard retail experience to their passengers,” commented Stefan Patermann, Retail inMotion’s Chief Executive Officer.

“With Retail inMotion’s expertise in this industry and access to global resources, we are fully committed to taking the airline’s onboard retail programme to the next level.”

STRONG TRACK RECORD

RiM has provided various onboard retail services including range development, category management, crew training and menu card and catalogue design to Aer Lingus since signing a retail consultancy agreement earlier this year.

Importantly, the onboard retail and technology solutions provider holds financial responsibility for the onboard retail and duty free programmes of Ireland’s national carrier, which operates 63 aircraft on routes to destinations in the UK, Europe and North America, carrying in excess of 12m passengers per year.

Adding his thoughts, Mike Rutter, Chief Operating Officer, Aer Lingus said: “We are very proud of our new partnership with Retail inMotion. Following an extensive tender process, we are convinced that we have found the right long-term partner to develop our Bia and Boutique offerings into the future.

“Now that the new programme has been successfully launched, we look forward to working closely in partnership, to further enhance our award-winning guest experience.”

Aer Lingus forms part of RiM’s growing list of airline partnerships, which include American Airlines (where it won a tender for its crew point-of-sale solution back in 2012), long-time client Ryanair, Tui Fly Nordic, Eurowings, Jet 2 and SunExpress.

INDUSTRY-FIRST INTERVIEW

In an industry-first interview earlier this year, RiM’s Patermann told TRBusiness that 2017 was the ‘year of delivery’ following LSG Sky Chef’s approved purchase of the remaining shares of the company last year.

The company doubled its turnover from €20m ($22m) in 2011 to over €100m ($115m) in 2016.

“There is a very clear commitment from the group towards onboard retail and there will be further, significant investment in the company,” Patermann said at the time.

To read the full interview with Stefan Patermann, see the August print issue of TRBusiness.