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PACCO tracks the seasons in Phuket


The island of Phuket is the definition of a market for season travel and the fast paced fall and winter months can have workers at the airport’s one caterer wondering what to expect from one day to the next.

A half-dozen attendees at the IFSA Global Leadership Conference toured the Phuket Air Catering Company (PACCO) the last day of the event. A handful of workers busied themselves as the executive chef Gerd Wissemann took the group through the various departments.

In high season from October to March, the unit can produce between 7,000 and 8,000 meals per day but in June, output can drop to around 2,000 per day. Service is carried out on PACCO’s fleet of eight high-loaders.

Fifteen airlines are currently customers of PACCO, but during the high season Wissemann says that the unit is often called on to handle a variety of charters and VIP flights, sometimes on very short notice.

Wissemann likes the small operation, and PACCO prides itself on the flexibility it can offer. A variety of cuisines are needed for the unit’s customers “We try to do many things for ourselves,” Wissemann says. “Home made pasta saves money and it is much better quality, and it is fun.”

Among PACCO’s year-round customers are Thai Airways, Korean Air, China Airlines, Bangkok Airways, the low-cost carrier One-Two-Go and, most recently, the French carrier LTU.

PACCO is owned 60 percent by Vichit Naranong a local hotelier and head of the Pearl Group of companies in Phuket, 30 percent by Thai Airways and 10 percent by the Airports Authority of Thailand.