Airbus has enlisted the help of cabin crew members from eight airlines to test its Spice galley cart concept using its A330 cabin mock-up in Toulouse. The week-long trials involved 13 flight attendants and 200 volunteer "passengers", says Daniel Percy, Airbus interiors marketing manager.
"As we got more confident in our preparations we decided we would open it up to the airlines," says Percy. "We demonstrated that we can reduce preparation time by up to 75%, so that passengers can get their meals 15-20min earlier.
"Also, not much more than half a day of training is needed for cabin crew to learn how to use Spice," he adds.
The Spice galley replaces traditional catering trolleys with lightweight boxes and foldable carts for service. Each box weighs 6kg when empty and eight boxes would be needed on an Airbus A330, rather than the 40 or 50 trolleys that are currently required.
"We want to start a deeper conversation with the airlines about Spice," says Percy.
Source: Flight Daily News
