Dnata Catering & Retail Launches Major Expansion of Advanced Facility at Melbourne Airport

Photo : Dubai Government Media Office

Dnata Catering & Retail is expanding its facility at Melbourne Airport (MEL), making a big investment of AUS$ 50 million. This expansion will help dnata serve more customers with better catering and retail solutions, strengthening its position as Australia's top inflight caterer.

The new expansion will add 5,700m² to the existing facility, making the total area more than 16,000m². This will make it the largest airline catering center in Victoria, with the ability to make 25 million meals each year. The construction is already underway, and the new area will be ready by September 2026.

Currently, dnata serves 20 airlines in Melbourne with a team of 1,000 skilled workers, providing meals for over 60,000 flights each year. Hiranjan Aloysius, dnata Catering & Retail’s Regional CEO for Asia Pacific, said: “This expansion is a crucial part of our growth. It will help us meet the increasing demand for our services, support the local economy, create jobs, and grow in related industries. We will keep investing in our team, facilities, and equipment to offer top-quality meals and services for passengers."

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Jai McDermott, Melbourne Airport Chief of Ground Transport, Property and Retail, said: “This expansion marks an important moment in our long-term partnership with dnata. It will improve how dnata operates at Melbourne Airport and help the company grow as the airport grows, especially as Melbourne Airport plans to build a third runway.”

The expansion also shows dnata’s commitment to growing in Australia. The company plans to invest AUS$ 80 million in infrastructure, which will create more than 300 jobs in the next three years, along with jobs through local suppliers. In 2024, dnata has already invested more than AUS$ 200 million in products from Australian suppliers.

dnata provides catering and retail services to over 40 airlines at nine airports across Australia with a team of over 4,000 professionals. In the 2023-24 financial year, dnata served over 50 million meals for more than 300,000 flights in Australia.

Globally, dnata’s catering and retail division is one of the biggest providers of inflight hospitality services. In the first half of the 2024-25 financial year, dnata’s teams served more than 50 million meals to full-service, low-cost, and VIP airlines from over 60 locations worldwide.