One of the world’s largest air services providers, dnata offers ground handling, cargo, travel and flight catering services across five continents. In the airfreight space, the company provides a series of services including cargo handling, a cargo web portal, dnata Logistics, GSSA Services and more.
Achieving success at the forefront of the ground handling revolution, dnata knows that excellence means constantly challenging itself to do better. That’s why the company is consistently investing in infrastructure, technologies and products to improve productivity and provide world-class service and safety to its customers.
“We are proud to have earned the trust and loyalty of over 300 airlines globally. We continue to work closely with our airline partners to consistently deliver best-in-class services across our global network,” Stewart Angus, dnata’s Regional CEO for Europe, said.
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Innovative approach
Taking pride in its ability to offer premium cargo handling services for passenger bellyhold cargo and freighter cargo, dnata recognises the need to provide the best-in-class facilities and state-of-the-art handling systems. This is achieved through its dedicated staff on the ground but also through its embrace of technological innovation where possible to make operations increasingly efficient for their customers.
This is seen in how dnata is rolling out its OneCargo system globally, among other digital systems across the sites where it operates. OneCargo automates key business and operational functions, including safety and quality monitoring, reporting and ULD management, with an integrated, cloud-based platform.
AI-driven tools and analytics provide enhanced visibility on sales and business performance, allowing customers to match real-time demand with available capacity for maximum profitability. In addition, OneCargo eliminates all redundancies and manual check sheets, substantially improving operational efficiency.
“We will continue to invest in the latest, digital technologies to maximise efficiency and consistently deliver the highest value for our customers globally,” Angus explained.
Cementing its status
In 2022, dnata continued its expansion in the UK with the opening of a new facility at Heathrow Airport. This was part of its agenda over recent years, having significantly invested in advanced infrastructure, equipment and cutting-edge technologies, cementing its position as a leading air cargo services provider in the UK.
Having added seven facilities, including six new builds, to its infrastructure over the past eight years, we now operate 13 cargo centres at six airports in the UK.
“Part of our ‘dnata City East’ complex, our newest, bespoke facility further increased our capacity at LHR, ensuring continued smooth handling of a broad range of goods. The expansion made dnata City East comfortably the largest off-site cargo handling operation at the UK’s largest commercial aviation hub. The new, 10,500 m² facility (‘Phase II’) was designed to operate in conjunction with dnata City East’s existing 22,500 m² facility (‘Phase I’) which opened in September 2019,” Angus added.
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Supporting Cologne’s growth
dnata entered the German cargo market through the acquisition of Wisskirchen Handling Services at Cologne Bonn Airport (CGN).
CGN is the third largest airport in Germany in terms of cargo operations with significant capacity for further growth. It operates 24 hours a day and is ideally located in the heart of Northwest Europe with excellent road connections.
“It is therefore the perfect location in which to position a significant logistics hub of central importance, particularly when other airport in the region are suffering from cargo capacity constraints,” Angus explained.
Similar to the moves in the UK, the expansion into Germany is part of dnata’s continued broader investment in cargo infrastructure.
“We are delighted with the improvements to the operations we have made since our acquisition and the cooperation with our customers and the airport authority,” Angus added. “We look forward to further playing our role in the next stage of development of Cologne/Bonn Airport as a major cargo hub.”
