A STUDY ON THE TRANSFORMATION OF UAE’S AIR TRANSPORT INDUSTRY FOCUSING ON ITS CONTRIBUTION TO UAE’S ECONOMY

Abstract

The UAE has made tremendous efforts to develop the air transport sector and the result of this is that today it occupies 3^rd place in terms of the Air Transport Infrastructure out of 141 countries assessed by World Economic Forum in its Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report 2015. The UAE’s air transport infrastructure is characterized by the existence of seven international airports and a number of operating airlines and delivery of high quality services. The UAE air transport infrastructure is consistently known for its innovative and progressive developments and maintenance of an enviable safety record. The study finds that the policy of Open skies agreement followed by General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) has allowed unrestricted frequencies, capacity and types of aircraft, whether owned or leased, to be operated by the Designated Airlines of each country in any type of service (passenger or cargo) on the routes between that country and the UAE. Using secondary data this paper aims to highlight the major achievements of the UAE in the aviation sector and explore the contribution of aviation industry on employment generation and GDP of the global economy in general and UAE economy in particular.