The agreement covers a five-year inflight retail contract alongside the remaining five-year contract of dnata’s hub catering services, reflecting Aer Lingus’ confidence in the company’s end-to-end operational expertise. The expanded retail operations cover over 180 Aer Lingus flights daily across Dublin, Shannon, Cork, and Manchester bases.

Under this new partnership, dnata is responsible for the full management of the retail programme, from product sourcing and procurement to warehousing and technology provision. The collaboration will continue to evolve, introducing new ways for customers to browse and personalise their onboard shopping, with the range shaped by feedback to reflect passenger preferences and enhance the inflight experience.

Robin Padgett, CEO of dnata Catering & Retail, said: “This partnership takes our collaboration with Aer Lingus to the next level – uniting our expertise in catering, retail, and technology to create an exceptional onboard experience. Together, we’re delivering a modern, data-driven retail programme that celebrates Irish brands, improves efficiency, and enhances passenger choice.”

The new inflight retail range showcases a thoughtfully curated mix of local Irish and international brands, reflecting Aer Lingus’ signature warmth and hospitality.  Customers can look forward to homegrown favourites such as Sculpted by Aimee, Tan Organic, BPerfect, and The Smooth Company, alongside Deli-Lites, which provides freshly made Irish sandwiches and wraps. 

The launch coincides with Aer Lingus’ festive season menu, featuring seasonal favourites such as the festive turkey and stuffing sandwich, Christmas cheese and cracker box, as well as holiday-themed gift items. 

Looking ahead, customer feedback will play a central role in shaping the evolving onboard range, ensuring future offerings continue to reflect customer tastes and the best of Irish hospitality.

To elevate convenience and accessibility, customers can browse the onboard magazine “Bia” digitally before their flight and purchase featured products directly on board. The initiative is powered by dnata’s integrated retail technology ecosystem, enabling contactless payments, real-time data analytics, and self-serve reporting capabilities that support Aer Lingus in driving data-led decisions and operational efficiency.

Adrian Dunne, Chief Operations Officer, Aer Lingus, said: “The addition of inflight retail to the existing partnership we have with dnata will drive significant operational benefits, whilst enhancing our customer experience at the same time. The programme will be delivered via a new crew iOS app, which will allow for a data-driven product range tailored to our customers’ preferences and proudly showcasing a wide selection of Irish brands.”

The new programme will serve more than 10.5 million Aer Lingus customers annually, offering a refreshed onboard experience and new opportunities for innovation across both retail and catering.

dnata’s catering and retail division is one of the world’s leading inflight hospitality providers. With a global team of over 10,400 professionals, the company produces more than 110 million meals annually, serving full-service, low-cost, and VIP carriers from over 60 locations worldwide.

Upon implementation, EASA’s Regulation will establish a more standardised environment, which will help enhance safety, operational delivery, cybersecurity, and consistency within the region.

Until now, the ground handling industry has largely operated under self-regulation, with operational arrangements, including safety considerations, primarily addressed in bilateral service agreements between ground handling service providers and the respective aircraft operators.

EASA’s Regulation is scheduled for publication in late 2024 or early 2025. The proposal includes a suggested three-year transition period for implementation post-publication. dnata anticipates a smooth transition, proactively aligning its practices with the forthcoming regulatory framework.

dnata is a leading global air and travel services provider. Established in 1959, the company offers quality and safe ground handling, cargo, travel, catering and retail services in over 30 countries across six continents. In the financial year 2022-23, company’s customer-oriented teams handled over 710,000 aircraft turns, moved over 2.7 million tonnes of cargo, uplifted 111.4 million meals, and recorded a total transaction value (TTV) of travel services of US$ 1.9 billion.

The new dnata facility will provide high-quality catering to airlines, focusing on premium, long-haul carriers for which the company can supply up to 4,000 meals at current capacity, each day.  At full capacity, dnata expects to create 60 new jobs including chefs, operations managers, logistics managers, drivers, stores, and health and safety staff.

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

Globally, dnata prepares more than 320,000 meals every day for more than 190 airlines and has been awarded Best Caterer by some of the world’s leading airlines. 

Gary Chapman, President, dnata said, “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.  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 including Halal, Indian, Chinese and of course, Irish. We are confident that today’s announcement is good news for airlines and good news for the Irish market.”

Dublin Airport Managing Director Vincent Harrison said, “dnata’s arrival at Dublin Airport is a hugely positive addition, not only to the Dublin community but also to the Irish economy.  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% to $3.3 billion. Employing more than 40,000 people around the world, dnata’s international business (outside of Dubai) accounts for 66% of its revenue.

Visit www.dnata.com for more information.