dnata to expand at Manchester Airport with £30m cargo handling facility

Air services provider dnata is to expand its presence at Manchester Airport in the UK after committing to a new £30m cargo handling facility.

The ‘build to suit’ dnata City North premises, with ease of airfield access, are being developed by MAG Property, the property and development arm of Manchester Airports Group (MAG), at Manchester Airport’s World Freight Terminal.

The Grade A 145,000 sq ft high bay facility, will include 20,000 sq ft of office space over two floors.

The new facility will allow Dubai-headquartered dnata to consolidate and grow its Manchester operations with capacity to handle over 150,000 tonnes per annum. 

The new facility will become operational in late Summer 2020 and stands to benefit from Manchester airport’s ongoing £1bn transformation programme, which in addition to passenger and terminal facilities, includes the remodelling of taxiways and additional aircraft stands to accommodate more of the world’s largest aircraft.

Dnata UK’s chief executive, Gary Morgan said: “We’ve been operating successfully at Manchester Airport for eight years now, but the increasing demand for the quality of service that we provide means that we’ve outgrown our existing space at the World Freight Terminal.

“We’re delighted to be able to relocate into new facilities at the airport and support our growing airline customer base.”

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Jonathan Haigh, MAG Property’s managing director, said: “We are delighted to be collaborating with dnata on this exciting project.

“The scale of dnata’s ambition and longevity of commitment rightly called for our assembly of this prime site and for a suitably impressive scheme to fully exploit its potential.”

Haigh continued: “From master planning to transaction execution, it’s been a great example of how we blend our airport operations knowledge with real estate development expertise and work hard and with skill for our customers. Together with our dedicated professional and principal contactor team we are thrilled to progress to the delivery phase”

Designed by architects RPS, dnata’s new building will “set a new benchmark for air cargo handling and warehousing, to include flexible office accommodation that will provide an innovative mixture of workspace and meeting facilities, as well as breakout spaces and fitness suite”.

Morgan continued: “We’ve worked closely with MAG Property and the design team to ensure that dnata City North is able to adapt to the dynamic industry in which we operate, as well as providing our staff with a quality working environment.

“We’re all looking forward to moving into our new facility at the end of the summer next year.”

The new building is being constructed on the brownfield site of a former aircraft hangar and will be constructed by McLaren as principal contractor.