From cabin to culinary: Trends shaping global airline catering

By Norman Firchau and Gabriel Schillaci

Continued growth in passenger traffic and a renewed focus on the on-board experience are transforming the industry, with food and beverage becoming a more important lever for airline differentiation. At the same time, new developments are creating strategic opportunities for market participants to improve margins through automation, digitalization and consolidation. With the market estimated at EUR 19.5 billion in 2025 and projected to reach EUR 25.7 billion by 2030, the segment merits closer examination of its growth drivers and competitive landscape.

Airline catering, offered either as a complimentary service or as a buy-on-board option, is becoming an increasingly critical component of the customer value proposition for both full-service carriers (FSCs) and low-cost carriers (LCCs). This study seeks to assess the current size, key drivers and long-term outlook of the airline catering market, looking into its expected development through 2030.

Airline catering is a EUR 19.5 bn market primarily consisting of on-board catering

The global airline catering market is estimated at EUR 19.5 bn for 2025. On-board catering represents the majority at 84%, with the remainder being on-board retail. APAC is the largest market with EUR 7.3 bn in airline catering needs, followed by Europe (EUR 4.7 bn) and North America (EUR 4.4 bn), with on-board catering outweighing on-board retail in every region. Airline catering is primarily outsourced, led by global and regional airline catering platforms, while pockets of insourced catering remain primarily in APAC and the Middle East. While the economy cabin still drives the largest share of on-board catering, premium classes are seeing higher growth as airlines redefine travel experiences.

The airline catering market is expected to grow at +5.6% p.a. through 2030

Airline catering market growth is closely tied to underlying air travel passenger growth, which has proven through-the-cycle resilience with swift recovery post-crises and consistently outperforms GDP growth. Long-term growth is expected to be driven by two key dynamics: rising passenger volumes and increasing prices, fueled by growing premiumization of on-board offerings. On-board retail is forecast to grow faster than on-board catering at +7.9% p.a., supported by improving passenger conversion rates across both low-cost and full-service carriers, while on-board catering is projected to grow at +5.2% annually. Geographically, APAC and Middle East & Africa are the primary growth contributors, expected to expand at +7.1% p.a. and +6.4% p.a. respectively.

A consolidated market landscape driven by operational expertise

Airline catering is a highly complex, operationally demanding industry with significant barriers to entry across infrastructure, customer credentials, necessary regulatory approvals and workforce requirements – all of which favor well-established, incumbent operators. The top 5 catering providers collectively hold 53–78% of the global market, with gategroup being the largest at 25-30% and LSG Group at 10- 15%.

Additional value creation levers for airline caterers supported by AI and automation

With recent developments in technology and shifting industry dynamics, airline caterers have multiple levers to improve margin performance. Automation streamlines production, enhances quality consistency and mitigates rising cost pressures, while digitalization optimizes demand forecasting and supply chain efficiency. Deeper airline–caterer collaboration and growing sustainability requirements are meanwhile reshaping competitive dynamics and driving longer-term contracts.

Key takeaways

As the market expands from EUR 19.5 bn in 2025 to EUR 25.7 bn by 2030, the more important shift lies in how value is being created: premiumization is lifting spend per passenger, outsourcing is expected to continue and caterers are investing in automation, AI and digital tools to enhance service delivery. In a market with high operational barriers, the winners are likely to be those that that combine scale, execution and technology.

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