Dnata

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dnata
Company type Private
IndustryGround Handling Industry
Founded1959;65 years ago (1959)
Dubai [1]
Founder [1]
HeadquartersEmirates Group Headquarters, Al Garhoud,
Dubai
,
United Arab Emirates
Area served
84 countries [1]
Key people
ProductsAviation Services
OwnerPublic
Parent The Emirates Group
Website http://dnata.com

Dubai National Air Travel Agency (Arabic : دناتا) (commonly known as dnata) is an Emirati airport services provider which provides aircraft ground handling, cargo, travel, and flight catering services across five continents.

Contents

History

The company dnata was established 1959 in Dubai with five employees. The name originates as an acronym for Dubai National Air Travel Agency. The company has grown significantly with the first international expansion seen in 1993. [2]

In 2008, the company acquired a 23 percent share in the travel company Hogg Robinson Group (HRG) and a 49 percent share of the global outsource provider Mind Pearl.

In 2010, dnata acquired Alpha Flight Limited, expanding the company to cover 62 airports in 12 countries. The next year, the company opened offices in India, offering air travel, hotel, and visa services for travellers between India and Dubai. [3] [4]

In 2015, dnata acquired RM Ground Services in Brazil. The acquisition allowed dnata to provide international airports with outsourced aircraft ground handling, cargo transport, and airline meal catering. [5]

In February 2018, dnata co-founded the Airline Catering Association, which is based in Brussels, Belgium. [6]

Controversy

In 2019, a dnata employee and others were arrested while they were taking drugs off a plane at Sydney Airport. AFP and Border Force officers swooped and arrested them. [7]

In 2021, six dnata baggage handlers and other people were arrested after they planned to bring drugs into Sydney Airport. [8]

Ground handling

In 2018 the company dnata employed over 41,000 people who provided services for 129 airports in 84 countries on six continents. The customer base of dnata consisted of more than 300 airlines and annual revenue amounted to USD 3.6 billion. [9]

IT services

Mercator has been the information technology arm of dnata providing technology and services to the aviation industry worldwide. [11] In 2014 Warburg Pincus, a private equity firm, acquired the majority stake of Mercator and merged it with Accelya in 2017. The combined company operating under the Accelya brand has 2,800 employees and serves 400 clients worldwide. [12] [13]

Cargo

Functioning as the cargo handling operator for the Dubai International Airport Cargo Gateway, cargo services are provided both regionally and internationally at their overseas airports, handling over 3 million tons of cargo annually. In 1991, the online communication portal Calogi was set up for the cargo industry. The first of its kind in the region, the portal allowed airlines, shippers, freight forwarders, and ground handling agents to conduct business anywhere in the world. [14]

Travel

dnata Travel provides assistance in the areas of corporate and government travel, luxury holidays, events, groups and incentives, retail and marine travel. There are 202 locations across the GCC with operational presence in Afghanistan, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. dnata Travel is also the regional managing partner for the Hogg Robinson Group in the Middle East and West Asia.

In the United Kingdom dnata Travel owns and operates a number of travel brands these include the Gold Medal Travel Group which includes Pure Luxury, Cruise Plus and Incredible Journey's these brands operate in the business-to-business market selling through travel agencies across the UK. Selling directly to consumers dnata Travel own and operate the Travelbag, Travel Republic and Netflights brands.

Flight catering

Through the acquisition of Alpha Flight Limited in 2010, dnata operates an international flight catering service across 62 airports and 12 countries. With an annual turnover of £360 million STG (AED2.3 billion) in 2010, the company serves 120,000 meals on a daily basis. [15]

Travel Republic

Travel Republic
Industry Travel
Founded2003;21 years ago (2003)
Founder
  • Chris Waite
  • Paul Furner
  • Peter Furner [16]
  • Kane Pirie
Headquarters
Kingston upon Thames
,
UK
Area served
United Kingdom
Products
ServicesTravel Agency
OwnerThe Emirates Group, DNATA
Website www.travelrepublic.co.uk

Travel Republic Limited is an online travel agency founded in the United Kingdom and launched in 2003. Travel Republic is owned by the air services provider, dnata World Travel, which is a part of the Emirates Group. [17]

History

Travel Republic was founded in 2003 by university students Chris Waite, Paul Furner, Kane Pirie [18] and travel agent Peter Furner. [19] They desired to create a website where customers could book accommodation, flights, car transfers and airport parking in one place. The company specialises in enabling users to build their own holiday experience by combining different elements from the Travel Republic site. [20] [21]

Travel Republic is a travel search website acting as an agent only. The company is a member of ABTA [22] and holds an ATOL License. [23]

In January 2007, the company moved to its current headquarters in Kingston upon Thames, Surrey. In the same year the company had an annual sales growth of 284.2% and topped the charts of The Sunday Times Virgin Atlantic Fast Track 100. [24]

In December 2011 the company was bought by Dnata World Travel which is a subsidiary of the Emirates Group, based in Dubai. [25]

In December 2015 Travel Republic launched a cruise service in partnership with Imagine Cruising. [26]

In July 2018 Dnata appointed Frank Rejwan (formerly of Abercrombie & Kent, Quintessentially and Ickenham Travel Group) as Managing Director for Travel Republic. [27]

Operations and technology

In January 2012, Travel Republic first introduced its mobile website, before expanding into mobile app on IOS in 2014. In 2015 the Android version of the app was launched.

The company aired its first YouTube ad on 17 January 2011. [28] Their first television campaign 'The Last Click' aired in June 2014. [29] With its success, Travel Republic continued to launch TV advertising campaigns. 'Welcome to the Travel Republic' was launched in January 2016 [30] before the latest campaign aired in December 2016 across UK and Ireland. [31] The campaign highlighted Travel Republic's slogan, 'Yours for the making'.

Controversy

In a case brought by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), Travel Republic was accused of breaching ATOL regulations by selling unlicensed package holidays. Judge Nicholas Evans delivered the not-guilty verdict at Westminster Magistrates' Court on 10 November 2009. [32] In his judgement, Evans said the prosecution had failed to prove that Travel Republic did anything other than "sell components of holidays separately, but at the same time". [33] [34]

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 3 "Emirates Group Media Center :: Fact Files". Mediacentre.ekgroup.com. Archived from the original on 25 December 2018. Retrieved 3 June 2007.
  2. ↑ "The Emirates Group Annual Reports, Facts and Figures". Mediacentre.ekgroup.com. 13 May 2012. Archived from the original on 25 December 2018. Retrieved 14 October 2012.
  3. ↑ "dnata in India". Dnata.com. Retrieved 23 May 2021.
  4. ↑ "Dnata announces acquisition of Alpha Flight Group Ltd". breakingtravelnews.com. 11 October 2010. Retrieved 1 April 2024.
  5. ↑ "Dubai's dnata buys stake in Brazil airport services firm". yahoo finance. 25 November 2015. Retrieved 1 April 2024.
  6. ↑ "Airline-Caterer gründen Interessensvertretung". Austrainavaiation.net. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
  7. ↑ Ransley, Ellen (12 June 2021). "Two charged following Sydney Airport drug trafficking investigation". News.com.au. Retrieved 10 March 2024.
  8. ↑ "Six ground handling staff charged with attempt to import drugs into Sydney Airport". ABC News. 15 October 2021. Retrieved 10 March 2024.
  9. ↑ Tian Tolentino (16 July 2018). "dnata celebrates 25 years and USD 3.6bn revenues in 2018". traveldailymedia.com. Retrieved 1 April 2024.
  10. ↑ "TAS - Toll Air Services - Airline Ground Handling Partners Australia-Wide". Tolldnata.com. Retrieved 14 November 2010.
  11. ↑ "Airline IT solutions". Mercator.com. 27 September 2012. Archived from the original on 2 February 2011. Retrieved 14 October 2012.
  12. ↑ "Warburg Pincus buys majority stake in Emirates' aviation tech firm". Reuters.com. 8 April 2014. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
  13. ↑ Muir, James (19 September 2017). "Accelya and Mercator to operate under the Accelya brand name". Aircargoweek.com. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
  14. ↑ "Welcome to Calogi". Calogi.com. Retrieved 14 October 2012.
  15. ↑ "Announces Acquisition of Alpha Flight Group Ltd | News | About". Dnata.com. 31 December 2010. Archived from the original on 6 July 2011. Retrieved 14 October 2012.
  16. ↑ "TravelRepublic tops Fast Track 100". Breakingtravelnews.com. 4 December 2007.
  17. ↑ "TRAVEL REPUBLIC LTD - Overview (free company information from Companies House)". Beta.companieshouse.gov.uk.
  18. ↑ "Travel Republic Sold". Travel Weekly.
  19. ↑ "Travel Republic is the UK's Fastest Growing Privately Owned Company". Investigate.co.uk. 5 December 2007.
  20. ↑ "10 Best Last-Minute Travel Websites". Independent.co.uk. 3 December 2018.
  21. ↑ "The 10 best websites for booking a city break". Telegraph.co.uk.
  22. ↑ "Travel Advice & Holiday Information - ABTA". Abta.com.
  23. ↑ "Check an ATOL Search Results". Publicapps.caa.co.uk.
  24. ↑ "TravelRepublic.co.uk tops the Sunday Times Virgin Fast Track 100 list". Traveldailynews.com.
  25. ↑ "Dnata Acquires Travel Republic - ITTN". Ittn.ie. 7 January 2012.
  26. ↑ "Travel Republic creates cruise offering". Ttgmedia.com.
  27. ↑ Ltd, Jacobs Media Group. "Dnata appoints new MD for Travel Republic". Travelweekly.co.uk. Retrieved 27 January 2022.
  28. ↑ Republic, Travel. "Travel Republic Launches First Ever TV Campaign". Prnewswire.co.uk.
  29. ↑ "Making Travel Republic the Last Click for holidays". Antidote.co.uk. 16 June 2014.
  30. ↑ "Travel Republic creates national anthem for TV campaign". Campaignlive.co.uk.
  31. ↑ "Travel Republic TV Advert 2017". Commercial-song.net. 28 December 2016.
  32. ↑ "Travel Republic vs CAA Court Ruling" (PDF). Travellawquarterly.co.uk. Retrieved 27 January 2022.[ dead link ]
  33. ↑ "Travel Republic victory: Reaction from the trade". Travelweekly.co.uk. Retrieved 27 January 2022.
  34. ↑ "Travel Industry News". Abta.com. Retrieved 27 January 2022.
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