Emirates - the official international airline of the United Arab Emirates and recently voted the world's best airline - has once again chosen technology from the Offenburg, Germany-based commercial dishwasher manufacturer MEIKO to expand its flight catering operations.
A brand-new second facility at Dubai International Airport will be equipped with three machines from MEIKO's M-iQ range of warewashers. "We've been doing business with Emirates Flight Catering since 1988 and we're tremendously proud to have this opportunity to develop the relationship further through this major contract," explains Klaus Engesser, head of exports at MEIKO.
The Arabian Peninsula's leading in-flight catering company is already at the planning stage of a project to incorporate the three new M-iQ machines.
"This is a customer that places a great deal of emphasis on cutting-edge systems, intelligent interface design and reliability," says Eric Waag, MEIKO's key account manager for in-flight catering.
Working in close collaboration with the Heidelberg, Germany-based company io-consultants - one of the industry's most prestigious planning and consultancy firms - Waag successfully convinced the customer to equip its new facility with the very latest M-iQ technology.
"MEIKO was the best choice because Emirates Fight Catering was looking for a solution that combines intelligent material flows with outstandingly smooth organisation," he says. "The key factors behind Emirates' decision to continue its long-standing business relationship with MEIKO included the high energy efficiency of our M-iQ machines, their user-friendly operation and, in particular, our sophisticated filter technology."
A MEIKO press release explains how the M-iQ system, widely regarded as a revolution in dishwashing technology, uses a proprietary filter technology to allow the machines to wash for longer periods without requiring the wash water to be changed. The new catering facility for which MEIKO has received an order for "EKFC Short Term Expansion-SE-03 Ware Wash Equipment" comprises 60,000m2 spread over three floors. The optimised material flows and superb levels of organisation required for the facility will be supported by MEIKO's highly efficient conveyor warewashers, which are designed to minimise idle periods by increasing the time between wash water changes. The contract includes a longer drying zone in the machines specially tailored to Emirates' specific requirements.
"The customer wanted everything to come out completely dry - even Gastronorm containers and plastic boxes - to ensure that all the key hygiene parameters were met," says Waag.
Each of the three M-iQ machines is 13.5m long with a useful width of one metre and a passing height of 2.4m. The machines will be assembled on-site, though the MEIKO branch office in Dubai will work closely with the assembly and installation experts at the company's headquarters in Germany.
"We will also be working in close collaboration with the technical consultancy firm io-consultants based on the excellent professional relationship we have already built up with them in previous major projects," says Waag.
"We consider it to be an honour and a distinction to have maintained a decades-long partnership with a company that has received more than 400 awards worldwide for its outstanding quality," says Engesser, summing up the views of his export team. By 2014 Emirates Flight Catering will be operating on the safe side with M-iQ when it comes to providing catering and other services to more than 105 airlines at Dubai International Airport.
