UAE signs historic bilateral deals with Brazil and Argentina

DUBAI - The United Arab Emirates has signed a historic aviation bilateral agreement with Brazil and Argentina during a recent visit there.

By (By a staff reporter)

Published: Thu 24 Jun 2004, 10:11 AM

Last updated: Thu 2 Apr 2015, 2:04 PM

According to the agreement the Government of Brazil, for the first time ever, has acceded to 14 frequencies per week for a foreign airline - Emirates airline. The agreement has also provided for intermediate stops between UAE and Brazil. This is especially significant as there is no open skies policy in either Brazil or Argentina. Argentina has agreed to five frequencies per week.

The agreement with Brazil came after a high-level talk between the President Luis Inacio Lula Da Silva of Brazil and Mr Mohamed Yahya Al Suweidi, Assistant Under-Secretary for Civil Aviation, Ministry of Communications, Abu Dhabi and Mr Mohammad Ahli, Director Operations, Department of Civil Aviation Dubai. This meeting was instigated and set up by Shaikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of the Dubai's Department of Civil Aviation and Chairman Emirates Group, especially since Brazil has no open skies policy and tough aviation regulations.

The visit to Brazil follows a high level visit by President Luis Inacio Lula Da Silva of Brazil during Dubai Airshow 2003 in December. President Da Silva showed keen interest in the UAE and Dubai. The UAE delegation, headed by Mohamed Yahya Al Suweidi, Assistant Undersecretary for Civil Aviation, Ministry of Communications, Abu Dhabi, included Mohammed Ahli, Director Operation, Department of Civil Aviation Dubai, Senarath Liyanage, Air Transport Advisor, Ministry of Communications and Mohammad Shareef, VP International Affairs Emirates. Yousef Ali Al-Usaimi, Ambassador of UAE to Brazil was also present at the discussions. The Brazilian and Argentinian delegation included ministers of tourism, defence, foreign affairs and senior personnel from civil aviation.

Shaikh Ahmed commented, "This agreement is very important to us. Trade relations between the UAE and Brazil have grown almost 67 per cent in the last six months. It is our aim to foster this relationship and boost the economy of our country by promoting more business and tourism. With this agreement we will be opening up more new connections from Dubai International Airport."

Mr Ahli commented, "I thank Shaikh Ahmed for assigning this opportunity to me. This was a real challenge for the UAE delegation and I am happy to have been involved in such a successful meeting. We look forward to opening this route from Dubai."