Dubai's dnata acquires aviation services firm Air Dispatch

dnata, an air services subsidiary of the United Arab Emirates' (UAE) international carrier Emirates Group, said on Monday it has agreed to purchase a majority stake in Britain-based Air Dispatch.

The firm did not disclose the sum of the deal between dnata and Air Dispatch, which is part of the Chapman Freeborn Group.

Air Dispatch was founded in 2007 and provides centralized load control planning (CLC) services, calculating the weight and balance conditions for aircraft prior to flight, said dnata in an e-mailed statement.

"This latest acquisition will allow us to further broaden our portfolio to our airline customers and strengthen our position as a leading global air services provider," said dnata's Divisional Senior Vice President of International Airport Operations Stewart Angus.

Air Dispatch currently has 200 employees at its operations centers in Prague and Warsaw, as well as a small head office team in Britain. Its clients include Air Berlin, which is partly owned by the UAE's Etihad Airways in Abu Dhabi, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, LOT, SAS, Qantas and Qatar Airways.

"We are excited to be entering the next phase of Air Dispatch CLC's development," said Air Dispatch CLC CEO Nick Yeadon. "dnata is an excellent home for our growing business."

In May, Emirates Group said dnata's profit for the fiscal year that ended on March 31 stood at 1.054 billion dirham (287.2 million U.S. dollars), up 16.3 percent year on year. The firm handled 389,412 aircraft in that period. Endit