NATS, one of the world’s leading air traffic management companies, has opened its regional headquarters in Dubai’s DMCC Free Zone.
The company’s regional presence comes at a time when air traffic congestion is becoming an escalating problem in the Middle East amid rampant route expansion and airport development.
Arabian Gulf states are expected to receive 450 million passengers annually by 2020. Air traffic movements in the Gulf’s airspace is predicted to reach more than 2.3 million.
“Addressing airspace congestion within the Gulf remains a critical challenge, and our approach is to leverage our expertise and experience – including in some of the world’s busiest airspace – to find solutions so that the GCC ensures it remains a global aviation powerhouse,” said John Swift, director of NATS Middle East.
The success of airlines such as Emirates, Etihad and Qatar Airways is being threatened by gridlock because 40 to 60 per cent of the airspace in the region is reserved for military use. Tony Tyler, director general of the International Air Transport Association (Iata) said in April “We are trying to squeeze the fast-growing civil aviation component into a fraction of the airspace.”
Aircraft movements would almost double by 2030 to 1.62 million, the UAE’s General Civil Aviation Authority warned last year. UAE airspace is among the smallest but most critical in the world because of the country’s strategic location between East and West.
In 2006, NATS was contracted to design terminal airspace around Dubai’s second airport Al Maktoum International. The airport, which received the green light for a US$32 billion expansion last month, will subsequently have six runways to handle an annual capacity of up to 160 million passengers. NATS also conducted projects in Kuwait, Qatar, Oman and the UAE. The opening of a regional headquarters in Dubai reflects the company’s long-term interest in the region.
“A permanent, on the ground presence covering the Mena region is a major milestone for us,” said Mr Swift. “Having a dedicated regional office is a clear sign of our long-term commitment to working in partnership with the aviation community, especially as it seeks to harness aviation as an economic engine for growth,” he added.
NATS air traffic controllers handled more than 2 million flights carrying 220 million passengers last year. The company’s revenue reached about $1.45bn. NATS has operations in 30 countries with a strong presence in Asia and continental Europe.
selgazzar@thenational.ae
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