Doha Summit told that cooperation needed to beat airspace capacity crunch

More than 400 new aircraft will be delivered to Gulf-based airlines alone in the coming years, putting added pressure on already-busy airspace in the region.

“Yes, we can avoid it (a capacity crunch) but we have to work on it now,” said Graham Lake, Director General of CANSO (the Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation) .

CANSO, whose members are responsible for supporting some 85% of world air traffic, brokered the ‘Red Sea Declaration’, a seven-point plan aimed at improving the use of airspace over the Middle East.

There is a huge prize in economic and environmental terms to be gained from making Air Traffic Management across the Middle East more efficient, although there are significant challenges, said Lake.

“It’s a hugely complex picture because it involves a wide range of players, from the airlines and Air Traffic Control to governments,” said Lake. “Some players have a clear common interest in change, while others have competing interests and quite different attitudes. Our job is to build understanding step by step.”

Lake added that the Doha Aviation Summit was a “very useful forum” at which to promote the CANSO message. “My message is that we all need to understand that we are part of a global system and that we are interdependent. Everybody has to work together to get the benefits that are out there.

The event, which runs today and tomorrow is hosted by the Qatar Civil Aviation Authority (QCAA) and endorsed by His Highness Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabor al Thani, Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Qatar, and brings together industry heavyweights from around the globe to debate key issues that will shape the future of the aviation industry.

Qatar Airways is one of the world’s fastest-growing airlines operating from the Gulf and airline executives have for some time identified airspace congestion as a critical issue to be addressed in order for planned expansion to continue. 

“Progress to date has already been remarkable, but there is a lot that needs to be done and there is no time to lose,” Lake said.