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- Dubai 05:43 06:59 12:35 15:41 18:06 19:22
Airport authorities are shopping for everything from screening systems to aircraft parking components. (SUPPLIED)
The ninth Dubai Airport Show saw airport authorities from Saudi Arabia, India and Egypt, followed by Qatar and Oman, emerging as the largest buyers of airport equipment.
"Airport authorities from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, India and Egypt, are shopping for everything from cargo and baggage screening systems to aircraft parking components," the show's organisers, Reed Exhibitions, said yesterday in a statement.
It said Saudi's King Abdulaziz International Airport, for example, is undergoing a $20 billion (Dh73.4bn) overhaul aimed at transforming it into the region's second-largest airport by 2035.
Meanwhile, Cairo Airport Company, part of the Egyptian Holding Company for Airports and Air Navigation, which manages the Cairo International Airport and 19 airports under the Egyptian Airport Company, is prioritising security and safety, IT systems, infrastructure and cargo solutions on its EGP 7.8 billion (Dh5.1bn) shopping list, according to Ihsan Sadik, an executive from Cairo Airport Company.
With total project budgets exceeding $6bn, airport operators from the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia region were declared as the ones among the leading buyers at the show.
Furthermore, performance-based navigation systems were among the top priorities for Gulf airport operators limited by airspace restrictions mandated by governments across the region. Bob Everest, Flight Operations Support for Emirates, said in a statement that an airspace review was desperately needed for the UAE and the GCC.
"By 2025, our biggest challenge will be what we can do in the air to stop the airspace from becoming completely gridlocked," Paul Griffiths, Dubai Airports' Chief Executive, said in a statement.
"Airspace development is not just a Dubai or the UAE problem, it is a GCC and regional one. There are at least 13 airports in the region with significant growth aspirations. We are working closely with the General Civil Aviation Authority, but more must be done," he added.
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