New jobs at airport

A NEW flight catering facility at Dublin Airport opened last week creating 60 jobs.

The new dnata facility will provide high-quality catering to airlines, focusing on premium, long-haul carriers. The company is part of the Emirates Group and can supply up to 4,000 meals daily at current capacity. 

The new jobs include chefs, operations managers, logistics managers, drivers, stores and health and safety staff.

The new catering facility comprises an industrial-sized kitchen, food prep and assembly areas, together with storage space.

Globally, dnata prepares meals every day for more than 190 airlines, and has been awarded Best Caterer by some of the world’s leading airlines.

“Passenger traffic through Dublin Airport is up year-on-year since 2011 and it is just a matter of time before it reaches the 30 million mark,” said Gary Chapman, President of dnata.

“In Dublin, we have identified a really strong opportunity to provide the growing number of long-haul carriers, and their customers, with great-tasting, high quality in-flight meals.

“We see this as a real vote of confidence in the Irish market, which we will support further by sourcing from local food producers and suppliers.

“We work with chefs and teams from around the world with diverse expertise. This means we understand the culinary needs of our airline customers’ equally diverse range of passengers, and can cater to a raft of palates and dietary requirements.”

Dublin Airport Managing Director Vincent Harrison said dnata’s arrival at the airport was a positive addition.

“Not only to the Dublin community but also to the Irish economy,” he added.

“Dublin Airport is a major economic hub supporting or facilitating almost 120,000 jobs. Airport service providers of dnata’s calibre really help to support our wider airport operation and in turn, our airline customers.

“We welcome a company that will inject some healthy competition into the market and we are looking forward to working with the team at dnata.”

The most recent full financial year, 2016-2017, was dnata’s most profitable in its 58-year history. Profits crossed the US$330 million mark for the first time, with revenue up 15 per cent to $3.3 billion.  The company’s international business (outside of Dubai) accounts for 66 per cent of its revenue.