AIR Terminal Services (Fiji) has procured land in Nadi to develop a new catering centre, with construction to start in the first quarter of next year, says CEO Alan Suchin.
“Currently, we have a catering centre that caters to the airlines, but it has been there for 40 years now,” he said, adding the move has seen ATS make some significant investment in terms of land procurement.
“So that facility probably will have administration offices. It will have a catering facility where foods are manufactured, and it will have a storage facility.”
Mr Suchin said the proposed site is located beside the existing ATS catering centre at the Nadi International Airport.
“So, we’ve got two lands, one we have already bought, that is across the road where the Nasoso development has started, that’s the place where it is. The second one (current development site) that’s under procurement at this stage, under sale and purchase, this is just beside the ATS old catering centre that we have, so both are in Nadi.”
Mr Suchin said the new catering facility will be worth between $30 million to $40 million.
“We’re trying to identify a project manager who will come on board, and then we will do the groundbreaking ceremony.
“The issue that we’re facing here, we have advertised twice for a project manager to come on board. We are not able to identify a suitable guy.”
Mr Suchin said ATS had done a feasibility study where a team visited facilities in India that also catered to airlines.
“We went and saw the facilities they’ve done to pick up some ideas and see how best we can replicate the best practices here at home. The government of the day and the Indian Embassy arranged for us to go and visit the facility in Delhi and in Bangalore. The team analysed how these facilities operated from procurement to manufacturing, then onboarding to the aircraft.”
ATS (Fiji) chief executive officer Alan Suchin. Picture: SALOTE QALUBAU