October 12, 2015 – On Air Dining, an inflight catering supplier, has installed a dedicated approved Halal kitchen at its London Stansted Airport headquarters in the UK. According to the company, this kitchen is one of the first inflight dining kitchens to be designated as holding official Halal status. The recognition was made formal by Mr Mataan Noh of Halal Consultations, who is counselled by Shaikh Dr Abdul Majid Ali, a councillor on Islamic matters in the UK and UAE.
In addition to creating a dedicated Halal Arabic menu, On Air Dining has also received certification confirming that its entire range of menus conform to Halal requirements. This means that clients can order from any item on the menu and be assured that it conforms to Halal cuisine guidelines that adhere to Islamic law. This includes sourcing meat (which has undergone the approved slaughter procedure) and products solely from well-known Halal suppliers.
This investment is in response to an increase in requests from On Air Dining’s expanding Middle Eastern customer base. Daniel Hulme, CEO On Air Dining commented, “The Middle East market is growing at a tremendous pace with more operators coming in and out of the UK so this is an important move for us.”
Meeting the stringent requirements needed for official Halal status required the company to use separate kitchen equipment when handling Halal items such as grills and fryers, storing Halal food so that it does not touch non-Halal items and changing gloves when handling non-permissible ingredients. It is also a requirement that all ingredients are free of alcohol and pork as well as items which contain their by-products.