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2021-11-03

Dubai Airshow Set to Take Off

Excitement in the Air!

The global turbulence caused by the COVID-19 pandemic will take a back seat when the skies will buzz with activity as the Dubai Airshow 2021 takes off from November 14 for five days.

Held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE, the Ruler of Dubai and the UAE Minister of Defence, the event will bring the aerospace and defence industry together for what promises to be an extraordinary experience.

The only global airshow to take place since 2019 will feature world-class products from market leaders and disruptors, enhanced networking opportunities and state-of-the-art aircraft display along with major industry announcements.

The organisers are also introducing a host of free-to-attend conferences featuring 150+ industry experts that will share invaluable insights and trends across nine tracks including cargo, sustainability, technology, and space.

Support for Startups

The Dubai Airshow 2021 is set to host pitch competitions in partnership with major local and global aerospace entities, including Etihad Airways, Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC), Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Boeing Applied Innovation.

The partnerships aim to provide disruptive startups with an opportunity to showcase their innovative technologies and creative ideas, in support of initiatives launched by the aerospace entities.

The VISTA pitch competitions will run across three categories covering areas that are key for the continued growth of the industry: sustainability, space, and innovation. Startups will be offered the opportunity to present their solutions to the aerospace ecosystem, tech leaders and investors, across two days of live pitches, in a bid to work with the industry’s leaders.

The sustainability challenge, held in conjunction with Etihad Airways, targets startups that can provide solutions leading to the reduction of indirect emissions, which occur throughout the entire supply chain of Etihad Airway’s ground and air operations, including cargo.

The winner will be given an exclusive opportunity to pilot their idea live on Etihad’s Ecoflights plus three return business class tickets to any destination served by the Etihad Greenliner.

The space challenge held in conjunction with MBRSC and AWS, invites startups to develop an end-to-end deep learning or machine learning model to automatically detect all the palm trees from RGB aerial imagery, with efficient computational time.

The winners of the space challenge will be given AWS credits starting from the value of US$2,500 up to US$25,000. In addition, the VISTA Innovation Cup invites ground-breaking startups from across the globe to pitch their product or solution to have a chance to win the title of the most Innovative Startup at Vista 2021.

VISTA, co-located within Dubai Airshow 2021, is the region’s only event dedicated to aerospace startups.

Saudi Aerospace Players

The event will witness a major presence of Saudi aerospace players. The Saudi exhibitors will showcase their innovative products and services and take part in key partnerships.

Exhibitors from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) participating at the upcoming Dubai Airshow include the General Authority for Military Industries (GAMI); General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA); Saudi Aerospace Company; Saudi Arabian Military Industries (SAMI); Advanced Electronics Company (AEC), a subsidiary of SAMI; Saudi Arabian Airlines, OxfordSaudia Flight Academy and GDC Middle East.

Timothy Hawes, Managing Director at Tarsus F&E LLC, organisers of Dubai Airshow 2021, stated: “We look forward to hosting key Saudi exhibitors this year at Dubai Airshow, who will be presenting their new products and showcasing their innovative technologies. The Saudi aerospace players will serve as a major addition to the show, with their forward-looking vision for aerospace and defence, which supports the regional growth of the industry.”

Packed Sessions

The Airshow will take thought-leadership to new heights as it introduces nine tracks packed with sessions covering the full spectrum of aviation, technology, and space. The conferences will cover an array of themes, including the role of new technologies in revolutionising air travel, major changes happening in the cargo sector, global advancements in sustainability and autonomous transportation, in addition to new space services and satellite connectivity.

Global industry leaders will take part in Dubai Airshow’s conferences, including Dr. Mohammed Al Kuwaiti, Head of Cyber Security for the UAE Government; Javed Malik, Group Chief Operations Officer at AirAsia; Stacy Malphur, Vice President of Environmental Sustainability and Supply Chain at Southwest Airlines; Brian Cobb, Chief Innovation Officer at CVG Airport; Ashish Vikram, Chief Technology and Innovation Officer at SpiceJet, and Brian Yutko, Chief Engineer of Sustainability and Future Mobility at Boeing.

The conferences will be split into different stages: The Hub Stage, Aerospace 2050 Forum, and Tech Xplore. The Hub stage will host Global Air Traffic Management and Cargo Connect, exploring how these critical services supported the industry during the pandemic. The Aerospace 2050 Forum will feature a series of tracks dedicated to key growth areas in aerospace including advanced aerial mobility, sustainability and space.

Tech Xplore, the brand new stage, will explore cyber security strategies alongside emerging technologies helping reboot the aviation industry including AI, 5G and automation. Major entities in the fields of technology, aviation, and cargo, will participate in the conferences, including Boeing, Accenture, G42, Air BP, Intelsat, FedEx, Kuehne + Nagel, SmartKargo, NAVPASS and Lilium.

One of the key sessions in Tech Xplore, “Touchless Travel: Leveraging mobile technology to overcome the challenges posed by the pandemic”, will show how leading airlines are using advanced mobile technology to make travel safe.

EDGE’s Presence

EDGE Group, the UAE’s advanced technology group for defence and beyond, which is a part of the Dubai Airshow Advisory Board, will have a major presence at the show. The Group is set to showcase its wide range of aviation, defence and technology services to international industry leaders, whilst supporting the ‘Make it in the Emirates’ campaign.

As part of the second meeting of Dubai Airshow’s Advisory Board 2021, Khalid Al Breiki, President of Mission Support at EDGE Group, and member of Dubai Airshow’s Advisory Board 2021, said: “We are confident that Dubai Airshow 2021 will serve as a major platform from which to support the UAE’s ‘Make it in the Emirates’ campaign. It brings key international entities to the UAE, and brilliantly showcases the giant strides the UAE is making in the research, development, and production of superior cutting-edge products and capabilities across the fields of aviation, aerospace, and defence, and EDGE Group is proud to be leading the way.’’

EDGE Group is creating opportunities in aviation services, aviation precision manufacturing, autonomous capabilities, directed energy, cyber-physical systems, advanced propulsion systems, robotics and smart materials, with artificial intelligence embedded across its products and services. EDGE also plans to utilise its disruptive technologies to transform the aerospace and defence industry.

Planet X Challenge

Emirates Mars Mission, in partnership with the Dubai Airshow 2021, has launched Planet X – a new nationwide competition designed to inspire a new generation of talent to build careers in global space and aviation industries.

The multidisciplinary contest will create exciting opportunities for the country’s youth who are interested in science, technology, engineering and mathematics through a two-month contest to build, code and design robots for deep space exploration.

Emirates Mars Mission’s Planet X challenge kicked off with a prequalification round in September, followed by a week of training in October. The main challenge takes place during the Dubai Airshow 2021, where high school and university students will be required to create ground and aerial robots for reconnaissance missions on Planet X. Up to AED 50,000 is available for the winning team.

Omran Sharaf, Project Manager of the Emirates Mars Mission – Hope Probe, said, “Empowering youth is an important part our long-term vision to enhance the nation’s global position in all space-related fields and create a new cadre of leaders that can push the boundaries of science and technology. Planet X aims to inspire young people with skills in science, engineering, technology and maths. By building and coding robots to successfully carry out complex reconnaissance missions on Mars, we will demonstrate how exciting and rewarding a career in space science can be.”

To complete their mission successfully, students will have to complete a number of complex challenges: First, build an unnamed ground vehicle to study the surface of Planet X and seek out a specific location to collect samples using Lego Mindstorms EV3, a third-generation robotics kit. Where there will be different programming complexities for high-school and university students. All robots will have to feature built-in sensors and actuators. Student teams will also have five minutes to complete a simulated mission without any support or assistance.

The second challenge will involve designing an unmanned aerial vehicle to glide above the Martian planet for reconnaissance missions. Students will be required to use CAD Fusion 360 modelling software to design and 3D print the aircraft, as well as share a technical presentation on its design.

“Symbol of Resilience”

The mega event is set to serve as a key indicator of Dubai’s success in overcoming the challenges that the pandemic has posed.

As Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman of Dubai Civil Aviation Authority, Chairman of Dubai Airports and Chairman and Chief Executive of Emirates Airline and Group put it: “We have crossed many significant milestones this year despite the difficult period. Dubai has been a symbol of resilience and agility in responding to the challenges that the pandemic brought, and we are confident that the collaborative work done by the sector’s key players to restore consumer confidence and boost travel operations will pave the way for a thriving aviation industry. Dubai Airshow 2021 will serve as the ultimate testament to the industry’s steady recovery and growth and firmly establish Dubai as the leading global aerospace hub.”

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