Dubai National Air Travel Agency (dnata), a leading global air and travel services provider, has won the ‘Aviation Sustainability & Environment’ accolade at the Aviation Industry Awards UK.
The award reflects the company’s commitment to enhancing environmental efficiency across its diverse operations, including its Airport Operations, Travel and Catering & Retail business units. The Aviation Industry Awards honor exceptional innovative individuals and companies in the UK’s aviation sector.
Stewart Angus Regional CEO for Europe – dnata
“We are incredibly proud to receive this prestigious award, especially in such an important category. Being selected from a shortlist of leading aviation companies shows the real impact our teams are making through their hard work and dedication in reducing our environmental footprint. We will continue to work closely with our partners to drive a positive change in the aviation industry.”
dnata recently reported remarkable improvements across key environmental performance metrics for the financial year 2023-24. The Agency achieved carbon reductions by over 8 percent, 22 percent and 26 percent across its airport operations, travel and catering businesses.
To minimize emissions, dnata uses renewable energy where available, and in some markets, such as the UK and Ireland, it exclusively procures solar and wind energy. Recently, it has installed solar panels across several facilities in Pakistan and the Philippines to avoid consuming fossil-fuel powered electricity.
dnata prioritizes environmental sustainability by investing in its modern fleet. Its fleet is committed to transforming diesel to hybrid, electric, or hydrogen. dnata has 65 percent of electric vehicles in the Netherlands, 44 percent in Italy, 40 percent in the UK, and 39 percent in Switzerland.
dnata is also dedicated to reducing fuel consumption. It utilizes Vehicle Tracking Management systems to monitor the fuel consumption across its fleet of ground support equipment (GSE), conducts logistics mapping exercises to reduce airside travel distance and optimizes shifts and parking slots to avoid excessive fuel burn.
Additionally, it tracks the drivers’ behavior, such as vehicle idling times, and has key performance indicators linked to the environmental management system. dnata empowers driver behavior by offering awareness and training.
dnata also works closely with biofuel suppliers to reduce emissions. Many dnata’s businesses have already adopted low carbon alternatives: in Schiphol airport, it has replaced over 674,000 liters with hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO100) in the previous financial year.
Most recently, it has successfully transitioned its entire non-electric fleet to biodiesel at the two Dubai airports, Dubai International (DXB) and Al Maktoum – Dubai World Central (DWC).
dnata actively reduces waste across its operations through consistent initiatives. Its catering and retail teams engage with many of its airline customers to analyze consumption trends, with an aim to optimize the loading of F&B for in-flight catering. This not only reduces food waste but also fuel burn associated with carrying excess weight.
The agency has also launched recycling initiatives across its business units. Its cargo businesses have adopted circular economy principles to repurpose plastics into materials for other industries. Meanwhile, several of its catering businesses eliminated single-use plastics across their operations.
