Etihad partners with Singapore tech firm to reduce food wastage on flights

Dubai: Etihad Airways has partnered with Singapore-based food technology startup Lumitics to trial the use of computer vision and machine learning in order to reduce food wastage on the airline’s flights.

The partnership will see Etihad and Lumitics track unconsumed economy class meals on Etihad’s flights, with the collated data used to highlight food consumption and wastage patterns across the network.

Analysis of the results will help to reduce food waste, improve meal planning and reduce operating costs, Eithad said in a statement on Sunday.

“Etihad Airways started the pilot with Lumitics earlier this year before global flying was impacted by COVID-19, and as the airline scales up the flight operations again, it is exciting to restart the project and continue the work that had begun,” said Mohammad Al Bulooki, Chief Operating Officer, Etihad Aviation Group.

With the help of AI and image recognition, Lumitics is able to differentiate and identify the types and quantity of unconsumed meals based on the design of the meal foils. “Tackling food waste is one of the largest cost saving opportunities for any business producing and serving food,” said Lumitics Chief Executive Rayner Loi.

Airlines around the world have been looking to cut costs and boost efficiencies after the COVID-19 pandemic led to international border closures and grounding of fleets.