Over 160 airlines met to discover the future on onboard services and passenger experience at WTCE 2026
| Event | World Travel Catering & Onboard Services Expo 2026 |
|---|---|
| Organiser | RX Global (IAE) |
| Event Date | 14.04.2026 |
| Press Release Date | 12.05.2026 |
More than 160 airlines from 66 countries and procurement teams from 50+ of the world’s leading inflight caterers gathered last month in Hamburg for the World Travel Catering & Onboard Services Expo (WTCE) 2026 (14 – 16 April), reinforcing the event’s role as the annual meeting point for the global onboard services industry.
With 319 exhibiting companies, including 79 first-time exhibitors, the three-day show brought together suppliers working across food and drink, packaging, amenities, service ware and onboard and catering technology. For airlines, the value of WTCE lays in the chance to see and taste what is new, compare suppliers and have conversations with the people behind the products. The co-located Aircraft Interiors Expo helped attract an even wider audience of passenger experience professionals, with 4,000+ visitors attending WTCE in total.
New and returning features – including the Drinks Zone, Discover Zone, New Exhibitor Village, themed exhibitor trails, and well-received dedicated hall for gategroup and its family of brands including deSter and gategourmet – gave the show a more guided structure, making it easier for visitors to find innovations relevant to their priorities. From food innovation and drink tastings to digital solutions and sustainability-led design, the event offered a cross-section of how airlines are rethinking the passenger experience and the delivery of onboard hospitality for the modern cabin and passenger.
Airlines and buyers at the centre
The event’s VIP Buyer Programme welcomed senior decision-makers from 160 airlines including American Airlines, United Airlines, Turkish Airlines, easyJet, Emirates, Lufthansa, Wizz Air, Delta Air Lines, Qantas and British Airways. 14 rail companies were also in attendance, with representations from Eurostar, DB Fernverkehr, Trenitalia, Amtrak and LNER attending WTCE.
The concentration of major carriers gave exhibitors a direct route into procurement conversations, while also reflecting the continuing importance of inflight catering and passenger experience in an airline’s wider strategy.
For 2026, WTCE’s VIP Buyer programme also helped drive more focused product discovery more than ever before. Personalised sample bags assembled from the 20 products the VIPs could select themselves in the Discover Zone showcased a cross-section of ideas across onboard segments, from food and drink to packaging and service items such as champagne stoppers for the skies. This helped to reduce waste and allowed VIPs to take products home and test as a consumer in their own environment and share with their wider teams.
Innovation across the show floor
Across the exhibition, companies showcased a broad range of new product development and concepts aimed at meeting evolving airline priorities around efficiency, sustainability and passenger satisfaction.
In inflight catering and service solutions, major players included gategroup, Dnata, SATS, Foodcase International and Cuisine Solutions all presented new approaches to menu design, service logistics and waste reduction.
gategroup marked its 95th anniversary with a dedicated hall bringing together its brands to showcase its capabilities, technologies and creative thinking across the airline catering and travel experience space.SATS spotlighted Monty’s Bakehouse, Gourmet Solutions by SATS on its stand to build new partnerships and share its latest catering offerings for airlines.
Meanwhile, Dnata Catering & Retail showcased a micro farm installation, proving how airlines can integrate selected herbs for menu development – improving freshness, reducing waste, and enhancing sustainability-focused menu design. Around Noon used WTCE to launch its new Arctic Deli to meet the needs of airlines looking to serve fresh sandwiches across longer routes. Lastly, En Route unveiled its En Route Club – a series of sandwiches including bread rolls, ciabattas and brioches that can all be filled with different flavours to reflect regional taste trends.
Food and beverage brands introduced concepts tailored to changing passenger expectations. New flavours and snacks for the skies were presented by a number of brands including Poco Vino with its sleek, colourful variety of 187ml wine bottles. Among the product highlights, Traiteur de Paris also unveiled a new crème brûlée developed specifically for onboard service.
Wabba Treats brought new flavours of its popular vegan and major allergen free bean-based snacks. Poshi returned bringing its line of shelf-stable portioned olives and seasonable vegetable snacks such as artichokes and asparagus. Farmley introduced nut and seed mixes tailored for premium economy catering. Large-scale suppliers like General Mills also had a presence, focusing on their iconic brands such as Nature Valley and Häagen-Dazs.
When it comes to tipples, Bottega presented its signature selection of Italian wines and spirits, emphasising small-format packaging with a touch of first and business-class service. Complementing the traditional wine offer, Twisst showcased its expanded range of non-alcoholic, ready-to-drink cocktails. These shelf-stable cans, featuring classics like the Mojito and Piña Colada, were positioned as a high-quality, operationally efficient solution for airlines looking to serve sophisticated mocktails.
Amenities and passenger wellness was also a key area of the event. Linstol launched new concept collection titled “The Art of Delivery.” This campaign focused on the craftsmanship, engineering, and sustainability behind their products rather than just the final aesthetic. The company also introduced Sound by Bose technology into their inflight audio portfolio during the event. While Formia and Kimrica Hunter brought their latest high-end, sustainable personal care products intended for global airline partnerships.
Beyond catering and retail, technology and solution providers focused on tools to support data-driven service, unlock ancillary revenue streams, and maximise operational efficiency, underlining the increasing role of digital integration in the cabin. Devion brought catering supply chain equipment to the show floor with an impressive demonstration of its robotics. The display was a popular hit for airlines looking to automate catering processes, showcasing how robotic arms can handle high-volume tray assembly with precision and speed. Meanwhile, Driessen Catering Equipment unveiled its new Cool Trolley, which is designed to keep food and beverage items chilled for extended periods without using dry ice.
C8Rtech, a new stand-alone company dedicated to delivering advanced airline-catering technology solutions, was launched by LSG Group. The company’s digital tools are designed to help airlines cut complexity and elevate productivity by using data analytics to predict passenger demand and optimise inventory loading. Finally, Omnevo showcased its latest digital platforms, integrating point-of-sale systems and pre-order technology to personalise the passenger journey and open ancillary revenue opportunities for airlines.
Guided discovery for visitors
A series of curated features by the WTCE Ambassadors helped visitors navigate the breadth of innovation on display. The WTCE Trails – Wellbeing Walk-Through, Steps to Sustainability, and Tech Trail – directed attendees to over 40 companies leading the way as they meet key passenger needs with an array of products and services.
Launched for 2026, the Discover Zone showcased 20 innovative products across food, drink, hygiene, cutlery, cups, plates, and trays – the full spectrum of travel catering essentials. More than 400 unique attendees engaged with the display, scanning products nearly 3,500 times to explore what’s driving the industry forward.
The New Exhibitor Village provided a platform for over 35 emerging suppliers entering the onboard market, contributing to a broader diversification of the supply chain. Here, Life is Bananas, Hand Off Wines, Hard Rock Cocktails, Minimelis, and The Coconut Collab were among the line-up looking to take their products to the skies.
The debuted Drinks Zone saw six beverage suppliers host happy hours and tastings. In a relaxed setting, Still G.I.N. by Dre and Snoop, GEMELLii, Picoso, Pentrade FMCG Distribution, Amrut Distilleries and Piccadilly Distilleries all attracted visitors looking to upgrade their bars menus and drink trollies onboard.
Taste of Travel Theatre
The Taste of Travel Theatre, sponsored by En Route International, served as the collaborative heart of WTCE 2026, offering a three-day programme of tastings and high-level panel discussions.
WTCE Ambassadors kicked off the agenda by sharing their expert perspectives on the future of the industry and the specific innovations they were looking forward to seeing on the show floor. This year’s panel featured Matt Crane, WTCE Sustainability Ambassador and Founder of the Aviation Sustainability Forum; Dr. Melissa Adamski, Travel Nutrition Ambassador and Founder of Nutted Out Nutrition; Julianne Ponan MBE, Special Diets Ambassador and CEO of Creative Nature; Kelly Stevenson, Beverages Ambassador and Founder of JetVine; and Kai Kosicki, Retail Technology Ambassador and Founder of ExpAir.
Sessions were organised around three core pillars that reflect the current trajectory of the aviation sector. The first theme, The Intelligent Cabin, explored how AI, automation, and smart design are reshaping onboard operations. Discussions led by experts such as Vimal Kumar Rai, Founder of Commercial Excellence Partners and Kai Kosicki focused on using data-driven insights to better understand passenger behaviour and optimise inventory, effectively reducing waste while increasing efficiency.
The second theme, The Elevated Passenger Experience, cantered on wellness, taste, and the sensory journey. Sessions under this theme, featuring speakers like Anne De Hauw, Founder of IN Air Travel Experience and representatives from SAS and En Route, highlighted how nutrition-led menus and creative beverage concepts can turn a standard journey into a memorable, customer-centric experience.
The Business of Onboard, the third stream, addressed the commercial strategies needed for growth. With a particular focus on the fast-growing Asian market, industry leaders including Jeremy Clark, CEO of JCConsulting and Jon Harwood, Vice President of Retail at dnata discussed evolving business models and the importance of strategic partnerships. Melanie Berry, Chief Customer Office at Vueling Airlines and Fernanda Veiga, Chief Relations Officer and Board Member at Kaelis Group also featured on a panel on “The Cost of Good Customer Service” which drew a full crowd to hear what it takes to champion your customers onboard.
The programme concluded with a practical session titled “How to Get Your Product Onboard,” where ambassador Julianne Ponan MBE and experts from Marfo and DELI LITES offered invaluable guidance to suppliers navigating complex airline procurement processes. This workshop served as a reminder of WTCE’s role as a gateway into the aviation sector for brands looking to expand.
One-stop shop
WTCE was once again co-located with the Aircraft Interiors Expo (AIX), providing a comprehensive overview of the entire cabin environment. The week began with the Passenger Experience Conference (PEC) on Monday 13 April, which featured a record number of airline speakers from carriers such as United Airlines, Virgin Atlantic, and Lufthansa Group. These sessions provided an in-depth prelude to the exhibition, focusing on the interaction between cabin design and service delivery to create a seamless traveller journey of the future.
Shona Thomson, Event Manager of WTCE 2026, said: “While food and catering remains at the heart of the passenger journey, it’s now a much bigger picture. Sustainability, design, wellness, and the role of operations to drive efficiencies, sustainability and improve passenger experience all playing a key role in getting the passenger experience right across the world and across all cabins. The industry behind it all is more motivated than ever to strike the right balance between premium service and operational reality. WTCE 2026 was once again a vital event for the supply chins to build and nurture the partnerships that will define how we will all fly over the next decade.”
WTCE 2027 will take place from 6 – 8 April 2027 at the Hamburg Messe. Register for more information here: https://www.worldtravelcateringexpo.com/en-gb.html
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