Business Bureau, Gulf Today

The Dubai Air Navigation Services (dans), the entity responsible for air traffic control at Dubai’s airports and the Northern Emirates, has extended its joint collaboration agreement with Serco of the UK for another two years.

The agreement was signed by Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of Dubai Civil Aviation Authority, Chairman of Dubai Airports and Chairman and Chief Executive of Emirates Airline and Group, and Phil Malem, CEO, Serco Middle East.

The renewed agreement by dans will contribute to continually upgrade and strengthen service level at both Dubai International Airport and Al Maktoum International Airport, while also ensuring a superior operational efficiency and continuity of the service adopting the latest technologies and in accordance with international standards, thanks to the high expertise enjoyed by Serco.

Speaking about the extension of the agreement, Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, said: “We are continuing our efforts to offer world-class services to our customers and stakeholders. Accordingly, the extension of the agreement with Serco with whom we have a long business relationship, serves our directions and plans to further enhance our human resources and technical capacities, and to also ensure the superiority of the services we provide to the aviation sector in Dubai and the UAE”.

“Our relationship with Serco is very old and the contract extension stems up from the confidence the company enjoys in the field of air navigation services and the achievements we made together in the past years. This further supports our directions to double our capacity in order to cope with the expected growth of passenger and cargo aircraft movements across the country’s airspace in the run-up to Expo 2020,” said Mohammed Abdullah Ahli, Director General of the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority and CEO of dans.

“The agreement extension is in line with dans strategies to achieve a significant growth for the aviation sector in Dubai, which is building exceptionally qualified human resources and possessing cutting-edge technologies and specialised systems in the field of air navigation services. This is exactly what our agreement extension with Serco will ensure,” Al Ahli added.

Phil Malem, CEO, Serco Middle East, said: “Serco is delighted to be part of the aviation growth story, supporting air traffic services for a period exceeding five decades in partnership with dans. We are delighted to have agreed this contract extension with dans, which allows us to continue our efforts of providing world-class air traffic services through our innovative and efficient practices to further support industry growth in Dubai and the UAE, which is expected to witness substantial growth in the months and years ahead.”

Serco provides management and operational services for airports and air traffic control globally. It is one of the world’s largest private air navigation services companies. In the Middle East it is building local capacity and national talent in the field of air traffic control with the aim to further supporting the growth of air traffic in partnership with its aviation industry customers.

Earlier the Dubai Air Navigation Services (dans) has announced the signing of a strategic new leasing agreement with the Dubai Aviation City Corporation (DACC). Under the terms of the agreement, dans will establish its first training facility within Al Maktoum International Airport (AMIA) (DWC). The agreement was signed by Mohammed A Ahli, Director General of Dubai Civil Aviation Authority (DCAA) and CEO of dans, and Khalifa Al Zaffin, Executive Chairman of DACC in the presence of Suzan Al Anani, Chief Executive Officer, Dubai Aviation Engineering Projects (DAEP) and Ibrahim Ahli, Deputy CEO, dans.

Once fully established, the new dans’ Training Facility will offer a diverse portfolio of training courses that address all technical, operational and theoretical subject matters in the field of Air Traffic Management (ATM). The facility primarily focuses on creating a global training hub from within the Emirate of Dubai that has the capacity to train individuals who are already experienced in the ATM sector and are keen towards further enhancing and developing their operational aptitude and skills, in addition to individuals who are looking to start a career in ATM.

Mohammed A Ahli, Director General, DCAA and CEO, dans, said, “In line with the economic vision set for the Emirate of Dubai and in alignment with our dedication to support the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to ‘connecting minds to build a better future,’ and to support the leadership of Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, dans Chairman, the launch of the new dans’ Training Facility will mark a very important and unparalleled milestone in the history of the UAE’s ATM sector.  The signing of this strategic new leasing agreement, which identifies the location of the academy, is a crucial positive step in the right direction for the academy–whose name shall soon resonate across local, regional and international fronts for being the leading operational training provider synonymous for quality driven contemporary taught operational courses.