Global aviation shows strong confidence in Dubai as Airport Show opens
Dubai: Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of Dubai Civil Aviation Authority, Chairman of Dubai Airports and Chairman and Chief Executive of Emirates Airline and Group, opened 20th edition of the Airport Show on Monday.
The three-day exhibition at the Dubai World Trade Centre’s (DWTC) Halls 7 and 8 has the participation of more than 95 exhibitors from 21 countries, 100-plus Hosted Buyers from over 20 countries and 36 exhibitors at five country pavilions by Switzerland, Germany, Italy, France and the UK.
“The aviation industry has a history of successfully bouncing back from crises and the COVID-19 pandemic is no different,” said Sheikh Ahmed. “The overwhelming response to the Airport Show is an indication of the aviation world’s strong confidence in Dubai and its global efforts.”
Key decision-makers from major airports in the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia (MENASA) have come to the Show in search of exploring and acquiring the newest products and services for their facilities for enhancing and safer passenger facilitation. Like the previous editions, the Airport Show 2021 has three co-located events: Global Airport Leaders Forum (GALF), Airport Security Middle East, Air Traffic Control (ATC) Forum along with and the Women in Aviation (WIA) General Assembly.
Thani Alzaffin, Group CEO, Emaratech, said: “There have been strong positive signs of recovery all over the world. Hopefully, 2021 will be a better year for the aviation/airport industry. The new standard for services at the airport will be seamless and contactless”
Travel trends
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) expects a 50 per cent improvement in the global passenger kilometres with the number of passengers growing to 2.8 billion with the opening of the borders by mid-2021, an increase of a billion passengers compared to the year 2020.
IATA, which represents 290 airlines accounting for over 82 per cent of the total global air traffic, says people have not lost their desire to travel, and that travel has returned to its near-normal levels in several places where the travel restrictions have been removed. It had been earlier expected that the Arabian Gulf airports would handle 450 million passengers annually once travel returns to its previous levels.
