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UAE airports to handle 41.7 million passengers by 2020: GCAA

ABU DHABI — The six airports in the UAE together will handle 41.7 million passengers by 2020 marking a significant growth from the current level of about 26 million passengers, according to the projections made by the General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA).

“This will be about six per cent growth annually, and this is only our projections. The actual growth could be much higher than our projections, and that has been our experience in the UAE in various sectors including in aviation industry. In 2009 we have been projecting a six per cent growth in flight movements in the UAE , but we could achieve over 11 per cent growth in spite of the recessionary trends,” Laila Ali Bin Harib Al Muhairi , Director of Strategic Planning and Corporate Excellence of the GCAA told Khaleej Times.

Flight movements in the UAE are also expected to grow at about six per cent annually to touch about 997,000 by 2020, she said. The flight movements in the UAE in 2009 were 525,000. “Our projections also indicate that the UAE will have nine airports by 2020. But there is no specific plans in this regard so far’’, GCAA official said.

The GCAA has also been recording significant growth in number of aircraft registration in the UAE. While the number of aircraft registered was 109 in 2008, it grew up to 114 in 2009, and this will be much higher this year. The Emirates Airways itself is set to register 12 aircraft this year, Laila said.

Asked whether the GCAA was envisaging any additional investments in infrastructure to meet the projected growth in aviation sector in the UAE, she said the “The Shaikh Zayed Air Navigation Centre that has been commissioned in Abu Dhabi in 2009 would be able to meet the infrastructure requirements for the projected air traffic growth in the UAE up to 2030. But our investments will be more in upgrading technology, not only in the air navigation sector, but in other areas of aviation regulation as well.’’

“We have evolved a restructured strategy for 2011-2013, after holding extensive consultations with all the stakeholders, including officials of the airlines and the civil aviation authorities of various emirates. We have also benchmarked our performances against some of the best practices adopted in aviation regulation bodies in other countries. Safety, security and sustainability are now the key concepts in our strategy. Our focus will be on making the aviation operations cost-effective. We are keen to deliver the best services to all our stakeholders, and will strive to get quality manpower for it. Environmental protection will be a major concern in our activities,” Laila said. —ramavarman@khakleejtimes.com