Espresso coffee trolley could be wheeling down the aisle soon

Need an extra shot of caffeine during that early morning flight? Feeling sluggish on your plane commute home after a long day of meetings? Well then, maybe a freshly brewed inflight Espresso is in order.

Enter the new “Espresso Coffee Trolley”. Developed by ABC International in cooperation with Italian coffee producer – and exclusive provider – Illy Caffè and a catering company, the machine brews espresso coffee whilst perched atop a full-size or half-size trolley.

“The scope of work of ABC International consists [of] developing the overall project and achieving EASA approval for the modification kit of a sales trolley in order to install a new Espresso maker machine including the related approval for cabin installation and utilisation during the flight,” says ABC International spokeswoman Franchesca Caputo. “The Espresso coffee maker machine [will] be hidden in the trolley once it [is] stowed in the galley and shall be retrieved on top of the trolley when…in operation.”

ABC International says an Italian airline has already signed on as a launch customer. The company recently “completed the CDR [critical design review] with them and the modification kit design has been frozen. This will allow [us] now to complete the engineering and move to the [next] step (production and certification),” says Caputo.

Spearheading marketing for the product ABC International is also talking to other potential airline customers. It hopes to start delivering to the market “in the first quarter of 2013”.

The company believes the Espresso Coffee Trolley “represents an innovation” in airline catering services, as it can “satisfy the tastes [of airlines’] most demanding customers at a smart price. It will also represent a source of ancillary revenue,” says Caputo.