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2018-07-01

Record-Breaking Deals at the Airport Show

The 18th edition of the Airport Show (7th – 9th May 2018) concluded with participants signing deals and partnerships worth millions. With the largest ever number of dedicated pavilions, 7,500 visitors joined over 350 exhibitors from 60 countries, while this year’s event saw 190 buyers from 34 countries, representing 75 airports, ground handling, police, immigration, customs, air traffic control and aviation authorities.

The 2018 show was inaugurated by His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of Dubai Aviation, Chairman of Dubai Airports and Chief Executive of Emirates Airline. The conference was addressed by more than 20 industry experts with sponsors including Boeing, Honeywell, ExecuJet, MSI Aircraft Maintenance Services International, LFV, the air navigation services of Sweden, Dubai Aerospace Enterprise (DAE) and ENOC (Emirates National Oil Company).

His Excellency Mohammed Ahli, Director General of Dubai Civil Aviation Authority (DCAA) and CEO of Dubai Air Navigation Services, remarked: “The quality of global participation and the increased number of exhibitors are testimony to Dubai’s growing importance as a global hub for civil aviation industry.”

Farid Al Bastaki, Director of ENOC Aviation also praised the addition of forums like Global Airport Leaders’ Forum (GALF), Women in Aviation (WIA), Air Traffic Control (ATC) Forum and Airport Security Middle East: “Initiatives like the ‘Women in Aviation General Assembly’ are great platforms to highlight the achievement of women in society. Investing in women is one of ENOC’s top priorities, which falls in line with supporting the UAE’s vision to empower them in the workplace. Aviation is a key driver of a nation’s socio-economic growth and we encourage all stakeholders in this sector to support women and engage with them.”

The Aviation Security Centre (Avsec) of Dubai Police will host the 16th Directors' Meeting of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) in Dubai 2019, for the 19th edition of the Airport Show in 2019, according to Eng. Marwan Mohammad Singel, Director of Dubai Civil Aviation Security Centre for Dubai Police: “In fact, three countries were in the fray to host this prestigious meeting, but when Dubai showed its interest, they withdrew in our favour. The meeting will facilitate showcasing of the latest in airport and aviation security.”

Major Deals Signed

Dammam Airports Company (DACO) signed strategic agreements with Vanderlande and Serco Middle East, while Honeywell, a global leader in connected airports, launched a new smart software suite called Honeywell Navitas to enhance the safety and efficiency of airside operations. Elsewhere, Sharjah International Airport awarded a contract to Frequentis and its partner Bayanat Engineering UAE to modernise its voice communication infrastructure and replace the existing Schmid Telecom system.

Rockwell Collins’ Director of Airport Security (EMEA), Sameh Gaafar, said the company is in discussion with Jazeerah Airways to supply a dedicated terminal: “Our participation at the show was very rewarding as we could get good enquiries from key players in the market”.

Todd Donovan, Vice President Strategy, Air Traffic Management, Land & Air System, Thales Group, emphasised that: “The show has been great, being able to join together as key stakeholders in the region to have many meetings with our current customers and prospective customers to discuss what is materialising in the industry today.”

Tom Squier, Managing Director of Smiths Detection ME, added: “I have been in this industry for 11 years, but this is my first Airport Show here in Dubai. It is an impressive show. Lots of companies invested heavily in it. Representation from the region is good.”

New Innovation Awards

Airport Show 2018 also saw the launch of the Innovation Awards, with winners selected from a global pool of submissions and an industry jury. Dieter Heinz, President, German Airport Technology & Equipment, won the ‘Aviation Personality’ Award for his contribution towards the development of the industry globally, while the ‘Revolutionary’ Award went to Beumer for a ground-breaking product and service transforming the industry. Hungaro Control got the ‘Sustainability’ Award and Materna received the ‘Smart’ Award, while Avventura was presented the ‘Customer Service’ Award.

Organiser Daniyal Qureshi, Group Exhibition Director at Reed Exhibitions Middle East concluded that: “This year felt like a true industry showcase. The dedicated events for security and air traffic control complemented Airport Show perfectly and we are looking forward to offering further content aligned with industry trends in 2019.”

Dubai Aviation Engineering Projects (DAEP), Dubai Airports, Dubai Civil Aviation Authority (DCAA) and Dnata were the key supporters for Airport Show, with Dubai Police and Dubai Customs supporting Airport Security Middle East. ATC Forum was supported by Dubai Air Navigation Services (DANS), while GALF, organised by CAPA, attracted wider industry participation and the ATC Forum saw an orderly and expeditious flow of air traffic.

Emirati Women Take Centre Stage

The keynote address at the 3rd Women in Aviation General Assembly taking place within the Airport Show was given by Her Excellency Jameela bint Salem Al Muhairi, the first-ever woman Minister of State for Public Education. She stressed that women will continue to be the future capital and long-term contributor to UAE’s success: “Young Emirati girls and boys have strong potential and I want to see more Emirati students applying for pilots and engineers and learn about aerospace and aviation.”

Compared with other countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, the UAE has many more women pilots, captains, aircraft engineers, mechanics, aircraft maintenance and air traffic controllers. Emirates currently employs nearly 27,000 women, or 42 per cent of the group’s workforce, while 60 of Emirates 4,000 pilots employed are females, including the youngest Emirati female pilot operating the world’s biggest aircraft, A380.

Etihad Airways currently employs over 2,850 Emirati women covering various roles, including 50 female pilots and the first Emirati woman registered as a specialist in aviation medicine, as over 50 per cent of the airline’s 13,000 strong workforce are women with the airline keen to narrow the gender gap further. Air Arabia employs women staff, including the first female Emirati holder of a multi-crew pilots (MPL) license, and two years ago the UAE became the first country in the world to launch an all-woman operated airline services company.

Earlier in her address, Mervat Sultan, President of the Middle East chapter of Women in Aviation International claimed that most aviation positions are still dominated by men internationally: “We are focusing on spreading awareness about aviation as a career of choice in the region and also helping aviation companies that are keen on hiring women.”

She was supported by Sonja Strand, Vice President & General Manager for Honeywell’s Global Airports Business: “As a global leader in aviation and airport solutions, Honeywell believes diversity and inclusion within its teams are crucial to generating superior ideas that can better serve customers and drive growth.”

Smart Gates by 2030

Delivering the welcome address at the Airport Security Middle East conference, Major General Mohammed Ahmed Al Marri, Director General, General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs–Dubai (GDRFA-D) said that, by 2030, smart gates at Dubai airports will replace passport officials’ platforms with a view to reducing the human involvement factor in application of Dubai’s 10X initiative.

Al Marri said: “We have created smart gates projects in an exclusive and modern way, and these now amount to about 122 smart gates. We have created a number of smart projects in Dubai international airports, the latest of which is ‘Next-Generation Departure’ project, which will enable passengers to complete their travel procedures in the least time possible.”

He added that new strategic and technological inputs to make the security checkpoints of the future will make Dubai airports safe and secure for all their clients. By ensuring the implementation of nationality and residency-related laws to bring security and economic benefit to the country and contribute to the protection of its ports, Al Marri added that the Directorate is looking to have the UAE ranked amongst the best countries in the world in terms of safety and security: “We are constantly evolving with the advent of modern technology and artificial intelligence tools. This may be one of the factors facing some sectors, requiring the deployment of innovative and intelligent solutions by government entities and contribution towards promoting Dubai's global leadership.”

Dubai has organised its airports with a view to having them act as smart stations in their capacity as, on the one hand, some of the most vital ports for the UAE and, on the other hand, the gateway to all people of the world. As Al Marri concluded: “This comes in line with the vision and directions of our wise leadership to ensure the happiness of all travellers and provide all necessary facilities and services bound to make their travel through Dubai a memorable experience. This has, in effect, enabled Dubai to occupy top ranking positions amongst the best tourist destinations and largest airports in the world, not to mention that Dubai has ranked first in terms of passenger numbers as total passengers through Dubai airports reached 88 million last year.”

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