The UAE aviation sector is experiencing rapid growth, propelled by the growing middle class and low airfares, as well as investments, estimated to total Dh1 trillion ($272.2 billion), a senior official said.

The investment includes improvements to airport infrastructure and a fleet of 884 commercial aircraft, said a report in WAM citing Saif Mohammed Al Suwaidi, director-general of the General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA).

According to the report, the authority is currently re-planning internal routes to extend to neighbouring countries, with the aim of increasing airspace capacity, as well as to introduce a new navigation management system by 2020, in order to meet the expected demands of air navigation in 2020 and beyond, achieve environmental efficiency, and generate annual financial savings of over Dh50 million ($13.6 million) for airline companies.

Passenger numbers are expected to increase to 142 million (up 5.2 per cent) across the country's airports, the report cited Al Suwaidi as saying.

He also added that the contribution of the aviation sector to the country’s GDP in 2018 reached 15 per cent.

The UAE accounts for around 45 per cent of the Arab aviation sector. This figure takes into consideration the number of passengers and aircraft capacity, as well as the arrival of five to six aircrafts per month to its fleet of four national carriers, which has increased the investment potential of this sector and promises new investment opportunities for the private sector, whose investments in the industry account for 10 to 15 per cent, compared to equivalent government investments, the report said.

Al Suwaidi noted that the UAE will host, in cooperation with the ICAO, a conference on the use of blockchain technology in planes in April 2019, which will provide an opportunity for generating business and raising the operations capacity of all sectors, especially the aviation sector, while stressing that the conference will be held for the first time in the world.

The first edition of the Global Investment in Aviation Summit (GIAS 2019), themed 'Linking Developed and Emerging Markets through Attractive Aviation Investment Opportunities', will take place on January 28 and 29, 2019, with the participation of representatives of 500 international aviation sector financing companies, as well as investors and aircraft manufacturers.

The two-day summit would witness the presence of senior delegations from 40 countries and representatives of airline companies, aviation experts, financial and technical officials, and more than 300 major investors, who will discuss relevant ideas and challenges. The summit will be the first to address the topic of investing in the aviation sector, and will be attended by ministers of aviation and CEOs of major international companies operating in the industry, with the aim of increasing the level of investment of the private sector in aviation.

The GCAA director-general said that the participation of ministers, CEOs of civil aviation companies and relevant companies and businesspeople from around the world would highlight the importance of the summit and the UAE’s international position in the aviation sector.