Top regional and international air traffic control leaders will explore challenges facing the skies at a conference in Abu Dhabi next month.

Regional Air Traffic Control (ATC) and aviation growth and issues relating to capacity, plans and difficulties, will be debated at the ATC Global Middle East Conference to be held from December 14-16.
 
The conference, presented by ATC Global Conference & Exhibition, will be hosted by the UAE’s General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA). 

The issues that will be in the spotlight are: managing the rapid increase in air traffic and filling in the holes in radar and infrastructure coverage, the need for a strategic coordinating body and the lack of regional coordination.
 
Organisers say the conference will provide a platform for a discussion and debate of these issues that will lead to solutions essential for ensuring the sustainability and safety of the Middle East’s ambitious aviation development strategies.

Marc Baumgartner, president and CEO, IFATCA (the International Federation of Air Traffic Controllers’ Associations), said: “Future growth in the Middle East will depend on all stakeholders working closer together and developing an understanding of the various air traffic management (ATM) needs and requirements.”

“Events like this are vital to establish the basis for this collaboration.”

Key air traffic management decision-makers from the region and around the world will be speaking at the conference.

Keynote speakers include Dr Majdi Sabri, regional vice president of Middle East and North Africa, Iata; Mohammed Khonji, regional director of ICAO; and Baumgartner. They will be joined by senior representatives from organisations such as the US Department of Defence; General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA), Saudi Arabia; Office National Des Aéroports (ONDA), Morocco; Civil Aviation Affairs, Kingdom of Bahrain; the FAA; Eurocontrol; JATCA; Air Arabia; Emirates; Euromed Aviation Project. – TradeArabia News Service