dnata, one of the world’s largest air services providers, announced the appointment of Dirk Goovaerts as the company’s Regional Chief Executive Officer for the Asia Pacific region.

In his role, Dirk Goovaerts will oversee dnata’s catering, ground and cargo handling operations at 10 airports in three countries, including Australia, the Philippines and Singapore, managing a workforce of 6,000 employees. Dirk Goovaerts will be based in Singapore and report to Ross Marino, Senior Vice President for dnata’s International Airport Operations division.

Dirk Goovaerts joins dnata from Saudi Ground Services Company (SGS), where he held the position of Chief Operations Officer since 2016. Leading a team of over 12,000 staff through a period of liberalization in Saudi Arabia, Dirk Goovaerts was responsible for transforming SGS to become the ground handler of choice in a new competitive environment, across 26 airports in the country. Previously Dirk Goovaerts held senior leadership roles at Menzies Aviation with the most recent being Senior Vice President, Europe, managing the company’s operations at more than 50 airports.

Ross Marino, Senior Vice President, International Airport Operations, dnata, said: “We are pleased to have Dirk join our global management team to strengthen and expand our operations in the Asia Pacific region. Dirk brings with him a strong mix of operational experience, technical breadth, leadership and passion for customer care. I’m sure dnata and our customers will benefit from Dirk’s broad experience which is well suited to our business in the region.”

Dirk Goovaerts, Regional Chief Executive Officer for Asia Pacific, dnata, said: “I am thrilled to be joining dnata, an industry leader which is globally renowned for its quality and safe services and customer-oriented approach. With the dedicated Asia Pacific team we will make sure dnata continues to deliver the best possible services and achieve the highest safety and security standards in the region.”