UAE General Civil Aviation Authority take part in GCC-EU Aviation Dialogue

UAE delegation was headed by Laila Hareb, assistant director general for strategy and international affairs. 

The two-day meeting, 18-19 May 2015, included extensive talks which resulted in beneficial and mutually satisfactory results. The meeting was attended by 23 officials from GCC member countries and 17 officials from the European Commission and EU member states. 

“UAE, along with GCC States, has been committed to the ongoing dialogue with European Commission,” said Laila Hareb. “We aim to ink a comprehensive agreement based on liberated skies, all other discussion items can be discussed within this framework” she added. 

This GCC-EU round resulted in the discussion of several issues relating to safety and aviation security, air navigation, and training in the Arab Gulf Region and Europe. 

Laila Hareb gave presentation on positive impact of UAE national carriers operations  on the European economy. She mentioned that Dubai's flagship airline Emirates contributes 6.8 billion euros ($7.6 billion) to the European Union economy. “The airline operations, which include 220 unique connections to European destinations, supported 85,100 jobs across the EU in the 2013-2014 financial year,” said Hareb. 

Emirates Airlines is the largest operator of the Airbus A380 superjumbo. The airline’s orders supported an additional 41,000 jobs and added a further 3.4 billion euros to gross domestic product. 

Hareb also presented figures demonstrating Etihad Airways positive impact on European economy. Etihad Airways’ core operations in the European Union contributed a total of US$1 billion to the combined GDP of the 28 EU member nations and supported more than 11,000 jobs. Additionally, the airline’s 2014 capital spending on aircraft and other aviation equipment contributed US$2.6 billion to the EU28 GDP, and supported more than 28,100 jobs. She added that Etihad Airways carried 3.3 million passengers to and from EU economies in 2014, connecting 618,000 travellers onto flights by our EU codeshare partners, and accommodating 368,000 of their passengers on our flights. 

The joint statement released during the meeting stated that the two parties stresses the importance of continuous dialogue and cooperation in various civil aviation fields and agrees to form two working groups, one in charge of technical matters such as air navigation while another one is to consider the necessary procedures for entry into a comprehensive agreement on air transport between GCC and EU countries.