Dnata, Emirates Group’s air services provider, has invested £8 million (Dh49.5m) over the past two years across six UK airports to boost its cargo handling capacity.
Dnata has invested in expansion at existing warehouses and in technology to streamline the flow at Glasgow, Birmingham, East Midlands, Newcastle and Gatwick airports, and moved its Manchester warehouse to a larger facility.
This has increased its cargo capacity to 250,000 tonnes across the six airports, and has helped to create 120 jobs, said Gary Morgan, the chief executive of dnata’s UK operations.
The Dubai company currently operates in seven airports in the UK, including London Heathrow.
Dnata’s expansion comes as some British airports showed healthy growth despite a 1.6 per cent decrease in total cargo handled across the country’s 25 main hubs last year.
The East Midlands airport handled the most cargo after Heathrow, increasing by 1 per cent to 266,968 tonnes. Glasgow ranked 11th, handling 11,837 tonnes, according to the consultancy RDC Aviation.
Glasgow and Birmingham grew their volumes at 24.6 per cent and 19.7 per cent, respectively. Cargo volume at London Gatwick decreased by 0.9 per cent.
Last year dnata’s profit rose by 1.2 per cent to touch Dh829m. Last year, it invested Dh850m globally, including in an 8-hectare logistics centre at Heathrow.
The company’s cargo handling division’s revenue grew 8 per cent to Dh1.2 billion. It has Dh2.4bn on hand.
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