An Advisory Board consisting of representatives from international, government and private sector organisations has provided valuable inputs in giving shape to the agenda and lineup of speakers for the Global Airport Leaders Forum (GALF-2014) to be held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of Dubai Civil Aviation Authority (DCAA) and Chairman of Dubai Airports.
The second edition of the forum will be collocated with the 14th edition of Airport Show, the worlds leading B2B airport industry event, at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre (DICEC) from May 12 to 13.

Held in Abu Dhabi, the meeting was attended by Aws Al Khanjari, General Manager of Gulf Centre for Aviation Studies (GCAS), Georges Hannouche, CEO, Bayanat Airports Engineering and Supplies, Hamdi Osman, Former Senior Vice President of FedEx Express (Middle East, Indian Subcontinent and Africa) and Michael Herrero, Gulf Area Manager at IATA.

Other Board members include Mohammed Faisal Al Dossari, Director of Air Navigation and Aerodromes Department at GCAA, Iyad Hindiyeh, Head of Airport IT Business Development, Amadeus and Dieter Heinz, President of German Airport Technology and Equipment (GATE).

Aws Al Khanjari, General Manager of Abu Dhabi-based GCAS, said: The Middle East, from humble beginnings a few decades ago, is now home to major global hubs operating in close proximity of each other and airlines that have routes that span and connect almost all points of the globe. The region has achieved the impossible and can truly be considered as the Aviation Center of the world. There could be no better place or setting than GALF for industry thought-leaders and experts to discuss the future of the worlds most dynamic industry.

Hamdi Osman, Chairman of Solitaire IGT, said: As the aviation industry around the globe is becoming more and more a part of our daily life, GALF has a vital role to play in shaping the future of aviation in the Middle East with its vision to bring global aviation leadership under one roof in the region.

Michael Herrero said: Aviation is the most exciting but also fragile industry. Commercial aviation is celebrating 100 years this year. Going from one passenger to 3.3 billion passengers could not be achieved without a solid partnership between all industry stakeholders. With a continued leadership of visionary governments that have understood the value that aviation brings to their economies, and airlines, airports and their partners delivering top class service and infrastructures, the Gulf will have a predominant role in the next 100 years. The Global Airport Leaders Forum provides a fantastic opportunity to discuss at top level the current and upcoming challenges and find solutions and innovative ideas to achieve the vision of a safe, secure and sustainable air transport industry.

On behalf of Reed Exhibitions Middle East, organisers of GALF & Airport Show, Daniyal Qureshi, Event Director, thanked the Advisory Board members for their valuable inputs and insights with a view to add value to the GALF-2014 agenda and make it more relevant to the industrys requirements and expectations.

As the forum is designed to be an invaluable knowledge sharing platform for the aviation industry, the depth of experience and market insights of the Advisory Board members helped us immensely in formulating a strong agenda and finalizing an impressive lineup of speakers, mostly global stalwarts, he remarked.

The Advisory Board members provided suggestions and ideas for enhancing the profile of the event and making it more beneficial to the global aviation industry players keeping in view the massive investments that will be poured into aviation infrastructure in the run up to the Expo 2020 in Dubai.

Officials estimate that over AED39 billion in investments are required to prepare Dubai to host the third biggest global event after Olympics and FIFA World Cup which will attract 25 million visitors. They also highlighted ways to attract the support of the aviation industry stakeholders for the not-to-be missed event which is expected to provide the industry useful insights into new aviation-related projects planned for Expo 2020.
Reed Exhibitions Middle East, which is working with Nadd Al Shiba PR & Event Management as the Conference Producer for GALF-2014, said there has been an overwhelming response from aviation industry professionals to GALF which is combined with the Airport Show for powerful double-impact knowledge and insights about the worlds most promising aviation market. A marketing and promotional programme to reach out to industry professionals to benefit from GALF has already taken off with encouraging results.

Details about the GALF agenda and speakers will be announced in due course after the endorsement from His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum. GALF-2014 will have an impressive lineup of speakers, including the top management of ACI, IATA and FIATA.