Improving Air Traffic Management will have Environmental and Economic Benefits for MENA

Gulf airport and airspace congestions could restrict economic growth

14 January 2015 - Dubai, UAE: The Future Air Transportation Systems Summit (FATSS) will tackle Air Traffic Management (ATM) issues in Middle East and will show howimprovingATM will create additional slots at runways and create significant fuel, time and environmental gains.

Aviation leaders will highlight that ATM capacity in the region will begin to constrain continued economic growth if airspace congestion and airport capacity issuesare not resolved.

The regional aviation industry has witnessed exceptional growth withthe three major Gulf airlines - Emirates, Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways - all ordering substantial numbers of aircraft to meet expansion and fleet renewal plans. It is vital that organisations respond collaboratively to improve air traffic safety, security and efficiency and secure economic growth opportunities.

GCC states are expected to handle over 400 million passengers per year by 2020. Middle East carriers are expected to experience growth in passenger traffic at 5.8 percent per annum through to the year 2025, compared to the world average of 4.6 percent. Arab Air Carriers Organisation’s (AACO) 31 members will carry 299.6 million passengers in 2026. Nearly 50 per cent ofairspace is reserved for militaries across the Middle East, creating a further strain on routes as more aircraft fly over the region.

Rudy Kellar, Executive Vice President, Service Delivery for NAV CANADA, the country’s ANSP and ATM technology innovator says “Our experience has been that enhanced automation and data sharing between ANSPs, airports and airlines offers more opportunities for collaborative decision making for improved planning, management and control of the airport surface and airspace. We see real improvements in efficiency, and gains in capacity with the implementation of our integrated NAVCANsuite technology in Canada and globally.”

Industry stakeholders have called for a single regional ATM system, similar to Europe’s EUROCONTROL, to be implemented in the Gulf and rolled out to cover other Middle East countries.EUROCONTROLdevelopedthe concept of the flexible use of airspace that involves close dialogue between civil and military airspace partners which extends across international boundaries.

However, the EU Single European Skies initiative,which was launched in 1999, has resulted in increasing regulation without anequal increase in efficiency.The GCC should learn lessons from theEuropean experience as well as global airspace modernisation programmes. FATSS will allow industry leaders to discuss possible solutions and analyse the impact of congestion on economic growth.

John Swift, Middle East Director at air traffic management specialists NATS, said: “The Single European Sky programme has the laudable aims of increasing capacity and cutting delays, costs and emissions, but to date there has been a over reliance on regulation and limited progress. The Gulf can learn from this experience and pursue a solution that prioritises operational and commercial partnerships to deliver real customer benefits.”
The Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation (CANSO)Executive Committee will hold its first meeting of 2015 in Dubai alongside FATSS.CANSO issupporting thesummit as a strategic partnerin order tohighlight the importance of partnership in achieving industry objectives.Transforming ATM performance in the Middle East is a major priority for CANSO and its members.

Officially endorsed and co-organised by the UAE General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), the theme of thesummit is how the aviation industry is a key economic driver not just for the UAE, but for the entire Middle East.

The GCAA will also host the ICAO Middle East ATM Enhancement Program (MAEP) Steering Committee meeting back to back with FATSS.

The Future Air Transportation Systems Summit will be held at the Conrad hotel in Dubai, United Arab Emirates on 18 - 19 January 2015.