dubai 1959 1 founder sheikh ahmed bin saeed al maktoum 1 headquarters emirates group headquarters al garhoud dubai united arab emirates area served 37 countries 1 key people sheikh ahmed bin saeed al maktoum chairman ceo gary chapman president of dnata products aviation services owner public parent the emirates group website http dnata.com dnata styled as dnata dubai national air transport association is one of the largest suppliers of combined air services in the world offering aircraft ground handling cargo travel and flight catering services across five continents . with a global footprint of 37 countries dnata employs over 20 000 employees for its operations worldwide . contents 1 history 2 ground handling 3 cargo 4 travel 5 flight catering 6 see also 7 references 8 external links history edit dnata was established in 1959 in dubai uae with just five employees . the name originates as an acronym for dubai national air travel agency . it has grown significantly 2 with the first international expansion seen in 1993 . global expansion was also witnessed in 2008 through the acquisition of a 23 % share in worldwide corporate travel company hogg robinson group hrg and 49 % acquisition of the global outsource provider mind pearl . in december 2010 dnata acquired alpha flight limited expanding the company even further to cover 62 airports in 12 countries . today dnata employs over 27 000 employees across 38 countries and operates out of 75 airports across five continents servicing over 150 airlines . ground handling edit dnata employs over 6 500 people who handle passenger cargo ramp and technical services for airlines at dubai international airport . globally dnata also provides airport services to 19 airports australia adelaide brisbane darwin melbourne perth and sydney joint venture with toll holdings . 3 china guangzhou and xi an pakistan karachi islamabad peshawar lahore faisalabad multan and quetta philippines manila clark singapore switzerland geneva and z rich the netherlands schiphol cargo services only as per 1 october 2015 uk london heathrow manchester gatwick birmingham glasgow east midlands and newcastle iraq erbil romania bucharest mercator 4 is the it arm of dnata providing technological solutions and services to the aviation industry in the middle east africa the americas europe and asia pacific . headquartered in dubai mercator also has an office in thailand . cargo edit 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 calogi 5 an online communication portal was set up for the cargo community and was the first of its kind in the region allowing airlines shippers freight forwarders and ground handling agents to conduct business anywhere in the world . travel edit 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 . flight catering edit through the acquisition of alpha flight limited 6 in 2010 dnata operates an international flight catering service across 62 airports and 12 countries . with an annual turnover of gbp360 million aed2 .3 billion the company serves 120 000 meals on a daily basis . see also edit dubai portal companies portal references edit a b c emirates group media center fact files . mediacentre.ekgroup.com . retrieved 2007 06 03 . annual reports facts and figures the emirates group . mediacentre.ekgroup.com . 2012 05 13 . retrieved 2012 10 14 . tas toll air services airline ground handling partners australia wide . www.tolldnata.com . retrieved 2010 11 14 . airline it solutions . mercator . 2012 09 27 . retrieved 2012 10 14 . welcome to calogi . calogi.com . retrieved 2012 10 14 . announces acquisition of alpha flight group ltd news about . dnata . 2010 12 31 . retrieved 2012 10 14 . external links edit official website dnata uk website dnata switzerland website mercator website calogi website v t e the emirates group subsidiaries emirates airline subsidiaries emirates skycargo dnata dnata travel services dnata uk dnata singapore emirates flight catering related articles emirates fleet emirates business model emirates destinations emirates skycargo destinations dubai marriott harbour hotel & suites people ahmed bin saeed al maktoum maurice flanagan tim clark incidents emirates flight 407 emirates flight 521 v t e independent and airline firm owned catering companies current lsg sky chefs sats ltd gate gourmet servair dnata do & co chelsea food services cathay pacific catering services retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title dnata & oldid 739840311 categories the emirates groupcompanies based in dubaieconomy of dubaiorganisations based in dubaitourism in dubaitransport in dubaitravel related organizationsaircraft ground handling navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages edit links this page was last modified on 17 september 2016 at 10 20 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; additional terms may apply . by using this site you agree to the terms of use and privacy policy . wikipedia is a registered trademark of the wikimedia foundation inc. a non profit organization . privacy policy about wikipedia disclaimers contact wikipedia developers cookie statement mobile view