Air transport hub in UAE to bolster skills of national cadres

13/05/2013 08:02 AST

The UAE Cabinet has approved an agreement between the UAE and the International Air Transport Association (IATA), which includes a request from IATA to open a regional office in Abu Dhabi to support its activities in the Gulf region.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, the UAE vice president and prime minister and ruler of Dubai, said the agreement indicated that the UAE has become a regional and international hub for the aviation industry and the hosting of aviation events.

He said the office would add more expertise and knowledge to Emirati cadres regarding the streamlining of international air traffic. His remark was made during the cabinet session held on Sunday at the Presidential Palace.

The IATA had concluded the agreement with the UAE and was waiting for the cabinet approval since March.

IATA sources told Arab News that their office in Abu Dhabi will become active by June 1. The approval formally establishes IATA's presence in the GCC with an office covering activities in Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar, in addition to the UAE. It supersedes an agreement with the Sharjah Airport Authority, under which IATA's first office in the UAE was established in 1996.

According to IATA, the Abu Dhabi office will report to the association's Middle East and North Africa Regional Office in Amman, Jordan. Together they will make available the full range of IATA's services and member benefits to airlines operating in the region.

The cabinet also approved an agreement between the UAE and Turkey on electricity generation and the extraction of brown coal (lignite and sub-bituminous coal) from Al-Bustan province in Turkey.

Yesterday's Cabinet meeting also endorsed the agreement between the UAE and Sri Lanka to set up a joint committee chaired by the foreign ministers of the two countries to strengthen the economic ties of trade and tourism.

In addition, the Council of Ministers approved a number of agreements with Niger and Montenegro in the field of aviation, as well as a cooperative agreement with France on the technology of space remote sensing.

Arab News