Singapore Airlines removes chicken from menu

[Guest guest]

Dow Jones Newswires

January 29, 2004

 

Singapore Air, Others Take Chicken Off Inflight Menus

 

SINGAPORE -- Singapore Airlines Ltd. (S55.SG) and other carriers have taken

chicken meals off some of their in-flight menus amid growing concerns over

the bird-flu outbreak in Asia.

 

" We have removed chicken meals on flights originating from countries where

the outbreak has been reported, " an SIA spokesman said Thursday.

 

The spokesman added that SIA is also ensuring that chickens supplied for its

onboard meals don't come from affected countries.

 

In-flight meals supplier Singapore Airport Terminal Services Ltd. (S58.SG)

noted that other airlines also have started replacing their chicken meals.

 

SATS provides in-flight meals to around 40 airlines including SIA, Emirates

Airlines (EA.YY), Qantas Airways Ltd. (QAN.AU), British Airways PLC (BAY.LN),

Japan Airlines (9205.TO), Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. (0293.HK), and Korean

Air Co. (003490.SE).

 

" There are some who replaced their chicken meals with seafood, or lamb or

mutton, " said SATS spokesman Mah Tze Chiang. He declined to name the

airlines, saying it " was an internal matter " for them.

 

Most airlines, he said, have asked about the source of SATS's chickens. The

company uses supplies from Malaysia, Brazil and the U.S.

 

Singapore has banned all live and frozen poultry from Thailand and China. In

addition, all five of Singapore's poultry farms - with more than 2 million

chickens - have been " bird-proofed, " with extra netting to prevent wild

fowl from entering egg-laying facilities.

 

Thailand and Indonesia are facing allegations that they initially tried to

cover up outbreaks of bird flu, which has ravaged poultry farms in 10 Asian

nations. The disease has jumped to humans in Thailand and Vietnam, killing at

least 10 people.

 

Singapore, in the heart of Southeast Asia, is determined to avoid the

outbreak of bird flu sweeping the region, and is on high alert for signs of

the disease entering the city-state.

 

-By Abdul Hadhi, Dow Jones Newswires; 65-6415-4153; abdul.hadhi

 

-Edited by David Bottomley