Dnata, the ground handling division of Emirates Group, agreed to acquire Australian carrier Qantas Airways’ catering division for an undisclosed sum, the two parties said on Wednesday.
Dubai’s dnata will invest in a new catering facility in Sydney as part of the deal, adding to the 11 catering facilities in Australia that currently trade under the dnata brand, it said in a statement.
“This agreement reflects our confidence in Australia as a market and the ongoing growth potential in future,” said Robin Padgett, dnata’s divisional senior vice president of catering.
Emirates has a codeshare agreement with Qantas that was extended in February for another five years.
Under the new deal, dnata will acquire Qantas’ catering businesses, which include the wholly-owned subsidiaries Q Catering and Snap Fresh Pty.
Q Catering has centres in four Australian ports – Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth. Snap Fresh, meanwhile, specialises in Australian-made frozen meals for customers in the airline, healthcare and retail industries.
Dnata will supply catering for Qantas flights for an initial period of 10 years under the deal, while Qantas will continue to work with key suppliers in menu design and
development.
Dnata currently employs more than 4,000 people in Australia across its catering, cargo and ground handling businesses. Around 1,200 Qantas employees will transfer to dnata under the deal, which is subject to approval from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.
“By combining dnata’s network strength and
international talent with Qantas’ domestic catering expertise, this will allow us to further grow our presence and deliver catering excellence to more customers across Australia than ever before,” said Mr Padgett.
“This includes investing in more infrastructure, starting with a new catering facility in Sydney.”
The catering businesses will “benefit significantly from dnata’s global footprint, catering expertise, and ability to drive investment and growth for its operation”, added Andrew David, Qantas’ domestic chief executive.
Dnata has expanded its global operations in the past year with the opening of its $50 million Melbourne catering facility, a new catering facility in Dublin, Ireland, and an agreement to acquire New York-based caterer 121 Inflight Catering.
