The UAE General Civil Aviation Authority hosted a special event to mark the contribution and dedication of the UAE's Air Traffic Controllers (ATCOs).

The UAE is considered to have some of the busiest skies in the region and the growth in air travel in the emirates is outstripping growth seen elsewhere in the world, said senior officials of GCAA.

The ATCOs in the UAE are responsible for safely and efficiently guiding aircraft through UAE skies from the Sheikh Zayed Air Navigation Centre in Abu Dhabi as well as to and from the country’s airports in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Al Ain, Sharjah, Fujairah and Ras Al Khaimah, they stated.

The GCAA and other Air Navigation Service Providers in the UAE have attracted a wealth of experience by recruiting highly skilled controllers from around the world in order to cope with the rapid growth in air travel in the region.

The event to mark the contribution and dedication of the ATCs was held in the presence of Saif Mohammed Al Suwaidi, the director general of GCAA.

The role of the ATCOs is to keep aircraft safely apart from each other using their unique skills and state of the art equipment, explained Al Suwaidi.

"However, many of the flying public are unaware of how crucial these controllers are in ensuring their flights are kept safe both in the air and on the ground," he pointed out.

The GCAA, he said, has heavily invested in a full and integrated Nationalization Program since 1998 and are actively recruiting UAE National cadets to fill positions on the tough training course at the Training Center at the Sheikh Zayed Air Navigation Centre in Abu Dhabi.

An Air Traffic Controllers awareness campaign was initiated by the Sheikh Zayed Air Navigation Centre in 2011. So far, controllers from the centre have visited a number of schools and universities throughout the emirates to promote Air Traffic Control.

Along with promoting ATCOs, the program aims to help select better candidates and strengthen ties between the GCAA and learning institutions, it added.-TradeArabia News Service