GCAA and Bahrain restructure airspace to take in traffic increase

The UAE and Bahrain have restructured airspace between the two countries in a bid to ease congestion as the number of aircraft movements continues to grow.
Time Aerospace thumbnail

In an announcement by the GCAA today, it was revealed that the change in the airspace structure consists of introducing three routes instead of the current unique entry route in addition to the introduction of other changes in the procedures for handling traffic flow that “will contribute effectively in decreasing airspace congestion.”

These planes are introduced following the development of an improvement plan from GCAA in partnership with the Kingdom of Bahrain and Dubai Foundation for Air Navigation Services.
The Bahrain sector is the ATM gateway to the lower Gulf area.
Last year the first amendment saw the creation of “Delta” sector which lad to an increase of airspace capacity of 55%.
Speaking at the announcement today, the director general of GCAA Saif Al Suwaidi, said: "Since the establishment of the airspace of the United Arab Emirates there was one single route linking the United Arab Emirates to the Kingdom of Bahrain,” Al Suwaidi said. “This change is a natural result of the large increase in air traffic movement in the UAE and the region the introduction of three routes accommodate air traffic increase.” 
Ahmed Al Jallaf, executive director of air navigation services and chairman of UAE National Airspace Advisory Committee said: "Improving the capacity of UAE airspace comes on top of our priorities, Air Navigation Services Sector seeks to establish a smooth flow of traffic while ensuring the security and safety of airspace as well as the efficiency of operations.” Al Jallaf praised the cooperation and effective coordination between the Sheikh Zayed Air Navigation Centre all involved entities which contributed to the latest change, including GCAA expert Talal Al Hammadi, Head of Airspace Coordination Section for ensuring smooth flow of operations and planning.
Sheikh Zayed Air Navigation Centre (SZC), is the largest and most advanced Air Traffic Management facility in the Middle East. The UAE airspace is among the smallest and most important airspaces in the world due to the strategic location of the UAE being the link between the East and West. Inaugurated in 2009, Sheikh Zayed Air Navigation Center aims at accommodating the growth in the aviation sectorand handles more than 2100 air traffic movements per day for the 8 international airports in the UAE as well as the over flying movements. The centre hosts nine air traffic sectors and the Approach air traffic services to Al Ain International airport.

 

Related content