dnata Invests in AI by Aquiring Majority Stake in bd4travel

One of the world’s biggest air services providers, dnata has announced having acquired a majority stake in bd4travel (Big Data for Travel), an award-winning tech company, which provides artificial intelligence (AI)-driven IT solutions to online travel agencies.

The Germany-UK based came into being to meet the challenges of the travel industry by leveraging sophisticated algorithms to let online travel agencies engage with anonymous customers and personalize their shopping experience in real-time, recommending the most relevant products, services and content to them.

Running more than 40 separate sites, bd4travel currently serves leading travel organisations in 17 markets. The company’s innovative solutions have been recognised with several prestigious industry awards.

Operating a diverse portfolio of travel businesses, dnata offers comprehensive travel services for individuals, companies and the travel trade across 77 countries. The company and its partners manage a broad range of activities from business and incentive travel to worldwide tour operations, including destination management, leisure, sports and active holidays. dnata also offers sales and marketing services for hotels, along with specialist travel services for government, offshore and marine industries.

Today’s announcement underlines dnata’s commitment to applying state-of-the-art technologies to improve efficiency and customer experience. With its investment in bd4travel, dnata further enhances its operations and offering bringing significant benefits to its stakeholders in the travel industry. 

bd4travel will continue to develop its award-winning platform to create more value for its customers, while broadening its reach across the globe with dnata.

The acquisition is effective immediately, with no interruption to the services offered by bd4travel. The business will continue under the bd4travel branding.

The parties have agreed not to disclose the details of the acquisition.

“At dnata we are constantly looking for ways to embrace innovation and new technology to maximize efficiency and ensure service excellence,” said Iain Andrew, Divisional Senior Vice President, Travel Services, dnata. “The processing of big data and the application of artificial intelligence-driven digital customer interactions represent major competencies of future-proof organizations. With their outstanding, scalable technology, expert team and proven business model, bd4travel offers solutions for both. Our investment in bd4travel will help us further optimize our processes and, by taking a world-class technology to a global level, deliver more value to the travel industry.”

Andy Owen Jones, Founder of bd4travel, said: “This majority acquisition by dnata is a major milestone for bd4travel, which will enable us to grow our AI-led solutions and bring this technology to more customers especially within the airline world. We are excited by the prospects of working with dnata, with their international reach and their commitment to investing in the best technologies in the travel industry. This is the start of a powerful collaboration.”

About dnata

dnata is one of the world’s largest air services providers. Established in 1959, the company ensures the aviation industry operates smoothly and efficiently in 127 airports. Offering ground handling, cargo, travel, and flight catering services in 85 countries across six continents, dnata is a trusted partner for over 300 airline customers around the world. Each day, the company handles over 1,800 flights, carries over 8,400 tonnes of cargo, assists over 320,000 passengers, books over 21,000 hotel stays, and uplifts over 320,000 meals.

About bd4travel

bd4travel delivers intelligent personalisation for travel, providing digital empathy and personal engagement with anonymous customers. The company was founded in 2013 by three former Amadeus colleagues who realised that “personal relevance” has the potential to change the travel industry – and that AI-driven personalisation is the necessary solution to provide the best web experience for each and every individual user. Today, bd4travel provides a comprehensive solution tailored specifically to tackle the challenges of the travel domain, to listen to its users, understand them and react with the most relevant service. Travel organisations profit from ready-to-go personalisation modules as well as powerful tools to create individual use-cases to enhance the user experience. bd4travel is based in Germany and the UK. Its solutions are implemented at leading travel organisations in 17 international markets and are recognised with awards from leading travel organisations such as Phocuswright, Travolution and Travel Technology Europe.