Nabil Sultan appointed CEO of dnata from 15 June 2026

Nabil Sultan will assume the role of Chief Executive Officer of dnata from June 15, 2026.

Sultan had headed the cargo business for Emirates as Divisional Senior Vice President, Emirates SkyCargo, for over 10 years before he was promoted to Executive Vice President, Passenger Sales and Country Management, Emirates, in 2024.

The global ground handling services provider and the Emirates Group subsidiary also confirmed to The STAT Trade Times that the current CEO, Steve Allen, is leaving the company. He has been in this role since his appointment in March 2021.

Allen has been with the Emirates Group since 2009 in various operational and support roles. Since 2016, he has been overseeing dnata’s ground handling and cargo operations and airport hospitality services in the United Arab Emirates as Divisional Senior Vice President. Since 2020, he has also been leading dnata’s travel businesses and their ongoing transformation globally. Before joining the Emirates Group, he spent 16 years with British Airways in various financial, regional and operational roles.

The leadership transition comes at a critical time for the Emirates Group amid continuing disruption across Middle East airspace and supply chains triggered by the regional crisis.

Nabil Sultan’s career spans more than 30 years in commercial operation roles within Emirates. Educated in the U.S., he holds a degree in Computer Science and Management Information Systems from the University of Portland, Oregon. He began his career with Emirates in 1990 and two years later joined the company’s management training programme within the commercial operations department.

Between 1995 and 2008, Sultan gained extensive commercial experience at Emirates, working in various management and leadership roles both within and outside the UAE heading commercial operations for both the U.K. & then India for more than eight years after which he moved back to UAE as a Senior Vice President for Commercial Operations, West Asia, followed by Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations Gulf, Middle East, and then Senior Vice-President, Commercial Operations for Europe & CIS. In 2009, he was promoted to Divisional Senior Vice President, Revenue Optimisation and Distribution for the airline.

Watch the last interview of Nabil Sultan as the SkyCargo Head, recorded at air cargo india in 2024.

The Emirates Group recently released its 2025-26 annual report for the financial year ended 31 March 2026 with dnata reporting record profit before tax (PBT) of AED 1.6 billion ($437 million), up 2% from last year, and a PBT margin of 6.8%, record revenue of AED 23.6 billion ($6.4 billion), up 12% and strong cash assets of AED 4.7 billion ($1.3 billion), up by 28%.

Revenue from dnata’s airport operations, including ground and cargo handling, increased to AED 11.2 billion ($3.1 billion). The number of aircraft turns handled by dnata globally grew by 12% to 888,793, and cargo handled increased by 2% to 3.2 million tonnes, reflecting new contracts won and increased flight activity by dnata’s airline customers across markets, particularly in its international operations.