Infrastructure: Airport/Airspace
Africa traditionally does not figure highly on airport construction but demand for air travel is growing amongst the 1.2 billion population and in some countries the middle class is swelling. Accordingly, the number of airport construction projects is growing and there is a level of ambition there to build airports that are modern, efficient, and which will cater for growth for several decades.
In the Middle East there are not quite as many projects one might expect although some large ones are scheduled to finish two years later, such as Kuwait Airport’s expansion project (2023) while additional infrastructure at Dubai World Central is being delivered in a piecemeal fashion through to the end of the next decade.
It is interesting to note the big three airline hub locations (Dubai, Doha and Abu Dhabi) are not alone by any means in being in receipt of capital expenditure on this scale. The largest project scheduled to conclude in the next few years is in Saudi Arabia while Iran has two.
These infrastructure constraints in both the Middle East & Africa are impacting greatly on aviation. This this session we will review:
- The role of the airline and airport relationship;
- What lessons can be learned from the rest of the world?
- How do we unlock the value of slots at congested airports?
- Do Middle Eastern airports and air navigation service providers have the capacity to accommodate the growth ambitions of the region’s carriers?
Moderator: Aviation Minds, Managing Partner, Dr. Nadine Itani
Panel:
- Airports PPP, Managing Director, Waleed Youssef
- Jazeera Airways, CEO, Rohit Ramachandran
- London Stansted Airport, CEO, Ken O’Toole
- Los Angeles World Airports, COO, Samson Mengistu