Decree No. (1) of 1987

Establishing

Dnata[1]

ــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــ

We, Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince and Deputy Ruler of Dubai, do hereby issue this Decree.

Article (1)

a.       Pursuant to this Decree, an independent public corporation named “Dnata” (the “Corporation”) is established.

b.       The Corporation will have legal personality and financial and administrative autonomy, and will be owned by Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum.

c.       The Corporation may sue and be sued in its own name and may, for this purpose, appoint any person to represent it in the judicial proceedings in which it is involved.

Article (2)

The Corporation will have the following objectives:

1.       to own all the assets of the Dubai National Air Travel Agency (the “Agency”) and to manage these assets in the Emirate of Dubai or elsewhere in the world, except the United Kingdom and the United States of America;

2.       to conduct business as general sales agents for international passenger and cargo airlines, performing all tasks related to such business, and to implement the relevant agreements concluded with international airlines;

3.       to solely and exclusively conduct business as ground service agents for international passenger and cargo airlines at the Dubai International Airport, including by providing engineering and technical services. The Corporation my carry on similar business in other airports outside of the Emirate of Dubai;

4.       to provide catering and other services to aircraft at the Dubai International Airport or at any other airport outside of the Emirate of Dubai;

5.       to provide computer services to international airlines and to other establishments, companies, and individuals;

6.       to organise recreational trips and flights to and from Dubai at special rates, and to provide ground services to the operators of these flights;

7.       to possess, take lease of, and manage the buildings required to achieve its objectives; and

8.       in general, to engage in and conduct any business which is directly or indirectly related or conducive to promoting its objectives and generating profits; to draw, accept, and negotiate any negotiable instruments; to borrow funds with or without security to achieve its objectives; to invest its property in any manner it deems appropriate; and to hold shares in other companies.

Article (3)

Effective as of the date on which this Decree is issued, all equipment, machinery, and assets of the Agency owned by Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum, including all rights and goodwill, are hereby transferred to the Corporation. The Corporation will be liable for all the Agency’s obligations and debts of any kind, except for the Agency’s assets, rights, goodwill, obligations, and debts in the United Kingdom and the United States of America.

Article (4)

The Corporation may open branches within and outside of the Emirate of Dubai, except within the United Kingdom and the United States of America.

Article (5)

The Corporation will be represented, managed, and operated by a chairman (the “Chairman”) appointed, from time to time, by Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum.

Article (6)

Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum will not be liable for any debts or obligations claimed from the Corporation or the Chairman.

Article (7)

In the course of managing and operating the Corporation, the Chairman will not be liable to third parties for any act or omission with respect to such management or operation. The Corporation will be solely liable to third parties for such act or omission.

Article (8)

No entity may recover any debt from, or enforce any obligation against, the Corporation by way of taking possession, seizure, sale by public auction, or acquisition by any other legal process, of equipment, machinery, or other tangible assets owned by the Corporation, whether or not a definitive court judgement in respect of such debt or obligation has been rendered.

Article (9)

a.       Subject to the provisions of paragraph (b) of this Article, the Chairman may issue the regulations and rules required to manage and operate the Corporation and may, from time to time, amend the same. These regulations and rules will be binding on all persons.

b.       Without prejudice to his exemption from liability pursuant to Article (6) hereof, Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum may amend or replace the above-mentioned regulations and rules at his own discretion, or exempt any entity from compliance with any or all of their provisions.

c.       The above-mentioned regulations and rules, and any amendments thereto, whether issued by the Chairman or by Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum, will take effect as of the date on which they are issued.

Article (10)

The Corporation is hereby exempted from customs duties on all imports and purchases of supplies and other materials required for its operations or distributed for promotional purposes.

Article (11)

This Decree comes into force on the day on which it is issued, and will be published in the Official Gazette.

Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum,

Crown Prince and Deputy Ruler of Dubai

Issued in Dubai on 4 April 1987

Corresponding to 5 Shaban 1407 A.H.



©2018 The Supreme Legislation Committee in the Emirate of Dubai

[1]Every effort has been made to produce an accurate and complete English version of this legislation. However, for the purpose of its interpretation and application, reference must be made to the original Arabic text. In case of conflict, the Arabic text will prevail.