The UAE's General Civil Aviation Authority has introduced a new award aimed at celebrating the contribution of states, business organisations and individuals around the world to the success of the aviation industry.

This triennial award reflects UAE’s commitment to promoting aviation and the support to ICAO’s ‘No Country Left Behind’ initiative.

The Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Aviation Award (SMBRAMGAA) recognises overall excellence in the quality of air transport infrastructure, compliance to safety and security standards, cooperation and support among ICAO contracting states, personal contributions of individuals and innovation.

The award Scheme consists of six distinct categories, each one designed to support these strategic objectives and represent the unique mix that is the aviation business. The categories include: ‘State with most improved Quality of Aviation Infrastructure’, ‘Outstanding Global Connectivity Award’, ‘Outstanding Resource Contribution to ICAO Programs’, ‘Outstanding International Cooperation Programs’, ‘Aviation personality of the Triennium’ and ‘Innovation Award’ (encompassing aviation safety, security, sustainability, passenger experience).

The award is managed under the chairmanship of Engineer Sultan Saeed Al Mansoori – UAE Minister of Economy and the chairman of GCAA and a group of international strategic partners will contribute to the evaluation process.

“The diversity of the award’s categories reflects our commitment to the overall development of the industry. We recognize that excellence in the aviation industry does not happen by accident," Al Mansoori said

He added: “There are regulatory authorities, business organisations, academic institutions and of course individuals who are striving day and night for the development of aviation. This is our humble effort to say ‘thank you’ to them who made a meaningful contribution in the development of our industry and by doing so, helped uplift the socio-economic wellbeing of millions of people around the world. We invite you to join us in our continuous efforts to promote compliance with aviation safety and security standards, cooperation and support for each other, recognise and reward outstanding leaders and promote liberalisation and innovation. We encourage you to participate by nominating an exceptional leader for his or her exemplary contribution to the industry, an organisation or individual for their creativity and innovation.”

The UAE’s global aviation success story is thanks in large part to the visionary leadership of the UAE’s Vice President and Prime Minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum and his passion for aviation and the significance placed on aviation towards wider global economic development. Traditionally, however, the aviation world has been dominated by a few nations with a long-standing history of aviation. Thus, emerging nations such as UAE have had to develop creative ways to assert themselves.

H.E Saif Mohammed Al Suwaidi, director general of the GCAA, said: “We believe that ICAO’s ‘No Country Left behind’ initiative presents an opportunity for an award scheme that rewards the development of the aviation industry across the board. With this in view, we launched the triennial Mohammed Bin Rashid (MBR) ‘Global Aviation Award’ that coincides with the ICAO General Assembly, once every three years in Montreal – Canada. The objective of the award scheme is to provide a platform to connect and improve relations with Least Developed States (LDS), support the ICAO Objective of increased global connectivity, support the “Global Aviation Plan for Development” and promote innovation and liberalization across the industry globally.” 

From the first commercial flight arriving in the UAE in October 1932 from what is now Pakistan, the UAE aviation sector has flourished and the UAE is now home to one of the world’s busiest international airports and the largest international airlines. - TradeArabia News Service