Emirates Group’s dnata plans expansion of Marhaba premium service to four more airports

Steve Allen, the divisional senior vice president for UAE airport operations at dnata, says that its passenger growth this year will outstrip that of its main hub at Dubai International Airport.

At its main hub Dubai International, above, dnata handled 3.89 million passengers during the last financial year, up 18 per cent from 3.3 million passengers a year earlier. Ashraf Mohammad / Reuters

The Emirates Group subsidiary dnata is looking to expand its premium travel services internationally through dedicated Marhaba lounges in the Middle East, Asia and Europe, as the unit’s passenger growth has this year outstripped that of its main hub, Dubai International Airport (DXB).

Marhaba handled 3.89 million passengers at Dubai International during the past financial year, up 18 per cent from 3.3 million passengers a year earlier. For this financial year, which started in April, dnata forecasts the growth in Marhaba passengers will be 10 percentage points higher than passenger growth at the airport.

The number of passengers at DXB increased by 7.4 per cent in the first quarter of this year to 22.49 million from 20.94 million a year earlier.

Marhaba is dnata’s meet-and-greet service that also provides lounge access, chauffeur and porter services, and on-arrival immigration assistance. The service is available at the Dubai International, Al Maktoum and Bahrain International airports.

The Marhaba lounges at Dubai airport’s concourses A, B and C handled 900,000 passengers in the 2016-2017 financial year.

“We are expanding Marhaba internationally in four locations with the lounges under construction, as we recognised passengers these days want that premium service,” said Steve Allen, the divisional senior vice president for UAE airport operations at dnata.

Marhaba services in these new locations will be initially restricted to lounge access with meet-and-greet services potentially introduced later.

Two of these lounges will be operational by the end of the calendar year while the rest will open during the first half of next year.

“We are looking at more locations [to expand Marhaba internationally],” Mr Allen said. “Wherever dnata is present, we want to add the product.”

In a gloomy 2016-2017 financial year, dnata was the bright spot for Emirates Group, which also includes the airline. Profit fell 70 per cent year-on-year at the group. The airline’s profit plunged 82.5 per cent year-on-year as it grapples with higher costs and soft demand.

In contrast, at dnata, profit was up 14.8 per cent to Dh1.21 billion for the period. It is currently present in 73 airports outside the UAE, providing ground and cargo handling services in the US, Canada, Brazil, Australia, the UK and Switzerland, among other locations.

The key passenger source markets for dnata’s Marhaba services are the US, Australia, Europe, Russia, China and India, with demand predominantly from premium travellers, according to Mr Allen.

To cater to the passenger growth, Marhaba, which currently employs 782 people, expects to increase headcount to 820 by the end of the current financial year.

“We are expecting a few record days at the airport at the start of the school holidays and Eid this summer despite airline frequencies flattening off because of the economy,” Mr Allen said.

School holidays this summer begin at the end of next month in the UAE.

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