Air transport to account for $1.5tr to global GDP by 2036

The 9th edition of the Global Airport Leaders Forum (GALF), scheduled to take place in Dubai from May 17 to 19 alongside The Airport Show and will focus on the resurging business landscape with both international and domestic traffic volume recovering faster.

The Airports Council International (ACI), representing 1950 airports in 185 countries, says Dubai International Airport, the world’s number one airport for international travellers, is due to receive 55.1 million passengers in 2022. Air transport to account for $1.5 trillion to the global GDP by 2036.

Along with Airport Security Middle East, ATC Forum and Women in Aviation Middle East Forum as co-located events of the 21st edition of Airport Show, the GALF-2022 will see renowned experts and officials talking about a variety of topics of crucial importance in four sessions at the Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) on Airport Innovation and Development, Air Traffic Management (ATM), Airport Sustainability and Airport Security.

Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of Dubai Civil Aviation Authority, Chairman of Dubai Airports, Chairman and Chief Executive of Emirates Airline and Group, under whose patronage Airport Show takes place, said: “The Airport Show and its co-located events have provided, over the past two decades, platforms to take the aviation agenda further and farther. The aviation’s transformation is tech-driven and helps overhaul the safety, health, security and efficiency levels in the operations of airports and airlines around the world. Dubai has been at the forefront of adopting technology to enable the accelerate the aviation’s bounce-back.”

Under the Airport Innovation and Development, the panellists will speak about adopting data, AI, 5G and robotics for better passenger experience, advances in integrated, automated, electric mobility in the airport environment, innovations in design, ambience and operations as a key element in the airport’s development strategy, and the future urban air mobility. Speakers at the session on Air Traffic Management (ATM) will address combining human and Artificial Intelligence for better airspace management, building a Digital Sky to meet future the ATM challenges, protecting the airspace from drone incursions and other vulnerabilities and Level4 Advanced Surface Movement Guidance and Control System (A-SMGCS).

The Airport Sustainability session will discuss mega hubs’ sustainability, innovations and technologies to help airports become more climate-friendly, sustainability contributing towards a better passenger experience and partnership in the wider ecosystem of city and transport authorities, airlines and communities to meet the environmental targets.

The Airport Security session will have experts speaking about developing intelligent, end-to-end control of the entire airport infrastructure to meet future security challenges, the role of advanced, disruptive technologies like AI, Machine Learning, VR, robotics and data in enhancing resilience, building stakeholders’ collaboration to ensure passenger safety and satisfaction, and how ‘Smart Travel initiatives contribute to better security management.