Tag Archives: Brett Weihart

The UAE has made significant achievements with recent airspace restructuring, according to speakers at Global Air Traffic Management (GATM). At the event, delegates had deleberations about achievements, challenges and opportunities the industry is facing. During  his welcome address, Ibrahim Ahli, Deputy CEO, Dubai Air Navigation Services (dans), said, “The objective for the UAE is to align its strategic plan with the global plan and methodology.” Mentioning further that Dubai International Airport is busy 24*7, he stated how many European airports are unable to achieve this due to curfews. He informed that while it presents opportunities, we must remain mindful of challenges too. He said, “Even minor routine maintenance can present challenges when you are open 24*7.” Giving the keynote address, Mohammed Al Dossari, Director, Air Navigation and Aerodromes Department, General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) discussed the need for the region to embrace the Global Air Navigation plan while expanding upon the improvement opportunities it offers for operations and how it can align with the UAE’s 2020 goals. “The UAE successfully completed phase three of the airspace restructuring project in an extremely tight time frame,” he mentioned. “This has increased the UAE airspace access and we are on track to meet our predictions for forecast capacity for 2020.” Delegates at GATM heard a real world example of how digitisation can revolutionise air traffic management, with Brett Weihart, CEO, Scandinavian Mountains Airport presenting a case study of the airport’s implementation of the first international airport in the world to be built without a traditional tower. “A traditional tower has a higher investment cost” said Weihart, “and the remote location creates its own difficulties of staff recruitment and retention.” He continued, “The benefits of …

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