Airshow an extension of UAE’s soaring success: Mohammed

DUBAI — Success has no finishing line, hence the newest edition of the Dubai International Airshow, which opens here on Sunday expecting to land billions of dollars worth of new orders, is an extension of the UAE’s major achievements in several areas, said His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.

Flying high on forecasts that the global aviation industry would rake in a $6.9 billion profit in 2011 from bullish travel trends, the Middle East’s main airshow expects regional and international carriers to spend over $20 billion on Airbus and Boeing planes at the biennial event.

Shaikh Mohammed expressed happiness over the continued success of the show. “I am pleased to see the 12^th edition of the Dubai Airshow take off, flying from success to success and continuing its quantitative and qualitative growth, ensuring growing volume and quality of exhibits, activities as well as numbers of exhibitors and visitors, Shaikh Mohammed said in a message published by the magazine Dira Al Watan (Nation Shield).

Organisers say this year’s spectacle featuring 1,000 exhibitors will be the biggest yet, with more than 55,000 visitors expected. Boeing Company, which shares a long-standing relationship with the UAE, has brought its new Dreamliner 787 for the Middle East debut at the Dubai Airshow.

“I am proud of the position our show ensures today among the largest international exhibitions in the field. I am more proud of the fact that our citizens make this global event happen through meticulous organisation and management of the airshow, where the most modern creations and technology produced by the human mind in the fields of aviation, communication, empowerment and training are exhibited,” Shaikh Mohammed added.

“We look at the success achieved by this exhibition as one in a series of successes achieved by the UAE in several areas. The success of the airshow is thus an extension of the country’s prestigious position in all regional and international forums. This is a logical result of the rise in all key indicators of development and progress from the Security and Stability Index, as well as other indicators of human development, and the endless competitiveness in the areas of infrastructure and good governance,” said Shaikh Mohammed.

“In the UAE we have always stressed that success has no finishing line,” he emphasised, adding that “the success achieved today will be scattered in the wind tomorrow, if not sustained through maintenance, renewal and development”.

“We practice this consistent approach in our lives as one of the requirements for success in life and in the performance of the work diligently and faithfully,” Shaikh Mohammed said, congratulating the management on guaranteeing the exhibition a stable position on the global map in the fields of aerospace and all associated works and services. He also congratulated the launch of the First Gulf Conference on air training, which he said has great prominence in the region.

Separately, Shaikh Hamdan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Public Works and Chairman of the National Media Council, hailed the Dubai Airshow, describing it as one among the three major aviation exhibitions in the world.

In a statement to Dira Al Watan, published by the General Command of the UAE Armed Forces, Shaikh Hamdan, who is also the Chairman of the Higher Committee for UAE Civil Seaports and Airports Security, noted that the new edition of the Dubai Airshow will feature the display of the latest civil and military aircraft and will attract groups of decision makers, experts, industrialists and officials from all over the world.

This year’s edition will be the biggest in the history of the 25-year-old show, with a 10 per cent increase in size, and that some regional airlines are expected to announce new orders, according to the organisers of the show.

Emirates airline is in discussion for a hefty order of at least 30 and possibly as many as 50 Boeing 777 long-range aircraft worth $8.5 billion to $14.5 billion and Qatar Airways is also expected to open its wallet for a $6.5-billion order for 50 fuel-saving A320neo jets and five A380s from Airbus, according to industry specialists.

Boeing’s president for the region Jeffrey Johnson told a news conference in Dubai on Saturday that there are 300 firm plane orders from the Middle East and more orders are expected during the show.

Boeing estimates that the Middle East will need 2,520 new airplanes over the next 20 years for fleet renewal and growth. - (With inputs from Wam)

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