Aircraft movements in the UAE airspace will increase to 1.62 million in 2030 numbering 4,400 per day compared with the present 2,200, said an industry expert.

The UAE will have a major share in the aircraft movements in the most congested airspace in the world, added Omar Bin Ghaleb, deputy director general, UAE General Civil Aviation Authority, in his keynote address to the third edition of Global Airport Leaders’ Forum (GALF).

The forum, which concluded yesterday (May 12), debated on challenges and opportunities facing the rapidly growing aviation industry worldwide.  In order to ensure seamless and secure travel experiences through the airports, the aviation industry leaders  emphasised on the need to work more towards better collaboration, wider passenger engagement, systems integration and effective and extensive use of technology.

To handle the phenomenal expected growth in air traffic, intelligent designs, effective use of space and technology are a must. Losing personal contact with passengers and lack of coordination among stakeholders within and across countries are the potential risks the stakeholders must address, the speakers emphasized.

Angela Gittens, director general, Airports Council International (ACI), while talking about the aviation security regimen, said the current approach towards passenger screening was not sustainable with the expected high growth in air service demand.

Dr Faisal Hamad Al Sugair, vice-chairman and vice-president of the Authority of Civil Aviation (Gaca), Saudi Arabia, said the Kingdom has ambitious expansion plans chalked out for all its airports over the next 10 years to cater to the phenomenal growth expected in air traffic in the region.

Technology will play a key role in ensuring seamless Air Traffic Management (ATM) as the Middle East region in general and the UAE in particular records significant growth in air traffic in the coming years, said Ahmed Ibrahim Al Jallaf, assistant director general for Air Navigation Services at the UAE’s General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA).

ACI has joined forces with International Air Transport Association (Iata) on a ‘Smart Security’ project to work with governments to define the future of security screening and drive the needed change, said Gittens.

“The objective is to improve the journey from curb to boarding, where passengers proceed through security checkpoints with minimal inconvenience, where security resources are allocated based on risk and where airport facilities can be optimized,” she said.

Quoting International Air Transport Association (IATA), Bin Ghaleb said airlines around the world carried about 3.3 billion passengers in 2014, which is slightly less than half the population of the globe and this figure was projected to increase by 2017 to four billion people.

“Forecasts by experts and stakeholders suggest that the airlines in the Middle East plans to invest $450 billion to acquire 2525 new aircraft by 2030, which will increase the size of their fleets by 160 per cent in 2030, up from the present 1060 aircraft,” added Bin Ghaleb.

“Our airports become even more important thanks to their strategic geographical location and gradual transition of global economic gravity towards Asia. We are witnessing a substantial growth of 7.6 per cent, above the global average of five per cent.”

Airport Collaborative Decision Making, or A-CDM, which consists of sharing information among the various players whose operations affect the movement of planes, passengers, baggage and ground vehicles, provides the kind of awareness needed to restore functionality or at least mitigate the effect of irregular operations, added Gittens.

During the session on ‘ATM solutions for 2030 and beyond’ Al Jallaf said the way forward to 2030 will be towards having “more automated, systemized and predictable” ATM operations.

He said the aircraft movements in the UAE Flight Information Region (FIR) are projected to be around 884,799 this year with an average of 2,424 flights a day. In 2020, this will reach 1.2 million or 3,314 flights per day and will reach 1.85 million in 2030 with an average of 5,067 flights.

He provided insights various initiatives that were introduced to improve air traffic management in the UAE, including the airspace restructuring programmes taken up in line with the recommendations made by the Airbus Prosky for GCAA. He offered insights into the UAE Airspace Restructuring Project, GCC Upper Airspace Project and Middle East ATM Enhancement Programme (MAEP).

He also highlighted the need for more regional collaboration among the stakeholders, better and increased use of technology and training and education for those working in the ATM domain.

Organized by Reed Exhibitions Middle East, GALF was held under the patronage of Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, president of Dubai Civil Aviation Authority (DCAA), chairman of Dubai Airports and chairman and chief executive of Emirates Airline and Group.

Daniyal Qureshi, group exhibition director at Reed Exhibitions Middle East, organisers of Airport Show, GALF and TCE, said: “GALF 2015 was a resounding success and successfully brought under one roof every stakeholder of the industry, including airport operators, air navigation service providers, civil aviation authorities and regulators. The debate agenda had a good mix of issues and topics of interest to the aviation industry general and airports in particular.” – TradeArabia News Service