GALF to focus in ‘resurgent business landscape’

The event is scheduled to take place in Dubai from May 17 to 19 alongside The Airport Show.

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.

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. 

His Highness 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.

Supported by Dubai Civil Aviation Authority (DCAA), Dubai Aviation Engineering Projects (DAEP), Dubai Airports and dnata, the Airport Show and its co-located events are a driving force for the industry to emerge stronger following the coronavirus pandemic. The crisis has prompted a faster uptake of technologies and prompted long-term changes to airport infrastructure. GALF-2022 will provide expansive business and professional networking opportunities, unparalleled learning experience and to obtain an overview of the technical developments and innovations and the most important and uncertain drivers of change.

Firas Abu Ltaif, Exhibition Manager at Reeds Exhibitions Middle East, the organisers of the Airport Show, remarked: “Knowledge enhancement supports continuous sustainability of the industry and helps facing up with future challenges spanning from the amazing pace of transformation. GALF will, as usual, provide a wonderful window of opportunity for the professionals and decision-makers to learn where the aviation is headed to and what routes of success lies ahead. Airports needs to be fully prepared for the coming boom period and the GALF will help the entire ecosystem by providing insights.”

The GALF 2022 will see several speakers from the UAE taking part in deliberations. The speakers include Major-General Mohammed Ahmed Al Marri, Director-General, General Directorate of Residency & Foreign Affairs(GDRFA-Dubai), Ibrahim Ahli, Deputy CEO of Dubai Air Navigation Services (dans), Mohammed Faisal Al Dossari, Senior Director for Air Navigation and Aerodromes Department at UAE General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), Arif Al Janahi, Director of Security Engineering, Security Industry Regulatory Agency (SIRA), Ramesh Cidambi, COO of Dubai Duty-Free, Charles Yammine, Manager Security– Quality, Compliance and Excellence at Emirates, and Kashif Khalid, Regional Director for Africa and Middle East Airports at IATA.

Among the speakers from the Middle East, Europe and other places at the GALF-2022 include Mohammed Ahmed al Mowkley, CEO, Matarat Company of Saudi Arabia, Ayman Aboabah, VP Operations of Riyadh Airport, Dr Omar Kaddouha, Director Flight Safety, Directorate General of Civil Aviation, Lebanon, Raed Al-Idrissi, Acting CEO of Saudi Ground Services, Tom Eskola, Vice President of Panasonic Avionics Corporation, Jacques Khoriaty, Middle East Chief Commercial Officer at Egis, Robert Powell, Vice President of Technical Services at dnata, Paul Brown, CEO, Jackson Municipal Airport Authority, Mark Green, Head ANS Support, Global Air Navigation Services, David A. Shomar, Vice President, Civil Security, Middle East & North Africa Operations, SAAB and Fabio Gamba, Managing Director, Airport Services Association.