Middle East airports lead industry innovation

Airports in the region continue to grow to keep pace with increasing passenger numbers – passenger traffic at Dubai International Airport is predicted to surpass 90 million in 2018. New projects in the region include Abu Dhabi Airport’s Midfield Terminal slated to open in 2019 and earlier this year Dubai Airports Engineering projects (DAEP) announced ambitious plans for Al Maktoum International to become a 'cosmic super-port' handling hypersonic and space aircraft in the future, as part of its Dubai 10X initiative.

Airport Solutions Dubai, taking place 8 October 2018 at Roda Al Bustan Dubai, will provide attendees with insight into the new project announcements across the region and plans to meet increasing passenger demand regionally in addition to looking at why airports should adopt Internet of Things (IoT) technology and the future of biometrics, in addition to utilising big data to reduce airport delays.

Attendees to the event will hear about future developments of airports in the Middle East from a panel including Mohamed Al Otaiba, Deputy COO, Abu Dhabi Airports Company; Mohammed Al Falasi, Director Business Development of Dubai World Central; Steve Allen, Divisional Senior Vice President of DNATA and Jacques Khoriaty, Middle East Director of Egis in addition to input from Dubai Civil Aviation Authority, a key supporter of Airport Solutions Dubai.

This will follow two international keynote speeches, one from Ben Wagenaar, Innovation Technologist at Heathrow Airport who will speak about the benefits of an innovation process, while Henk Jan Gerzee, Chief Digital Officer of Royal Schiphol Group will present on behalf of Amsterdam Schipol Airport. Also speaking at the event will be Anthony Lauriola, COO, Block Gemini; Romain Hericher, Director - Operational Strategy, Dubai Airports and Kashif Khalid, Regional Director - Africa & Middle East at IATA.

“IATA reported  that worldwide annual air passenger numbers exceeded four billion for the first time in 2017,” said Rachel Sturgess, Portfolio Director of show organisers Tarsus F&E LLC Middle East. “Incredibly, they expect air travel to double by 2036. The demand on airports to manage all of this passenger traffic will increase exponentially. Airport Solutions Dubai brings the airport community together to discuss the biggest technology innovations the industry is implementing to meet growing air traffic demands.”

“Advances in airport technology have been incredible,” Sturgess continues. “Developments such as robotics, artificial intelligence and blockchain are enabling airports to increase the amount of passengers and cargo they handle exponentially. The time has never been better for Airport Solutions Dubai to bring experts together.”