In a highly significant development, Gate Gourmet, a member of gategroup has become the sole provider of catering and provisioning services for Scandinavian Airlines System at Copenhagen, Stockholm/Arlanda and Oslo, as well as operations in

Gothenburg and Malmoe in Sweden and Bergen in Norway.

Gate Gourmet won the SAS business last autumn in a competitive tender and the new five-year contract with an option for an additional four years is a major coup for the catering company.

‘This major agreement is a result of gategroup's successful restructuring of our Scandinavian operations to become more cost competitive, and an energetic campaign to win the business,’ said gategroup CEO Guy Dubois. ‘SAS was already a key account for deSter, which gategroup acquired in 2007, and this new contract reflects positively on our strategy to cross-sell among gategroup's brands. We also serve the airline in Europe,’ he said.

The new business more than doubles Gate Gourmet's previous annual production of meals in Scandinavia to nearly 16m and will increase the number of employees to over 1,200 in the region. Gate Gourmet is preparing and provisioning food for SAS' Business and Economy cabins on long-haul flights from Copenhagen and Stockholm; in the Business and Economy Flex cabins for European flights; and for intra-Scandinavia flights.

‘We are extremely proud to have been chosen by SAS as its catering and logistics partner in its home markets,’ said Philippe Op de Beeck, gategroup Senior Vice President and President of the Europe & Africa region. ‘The size and scope of this new business makes SAS one of gategroup's top customers and we aim to continue to grow our relationship,’ he said.