Middle East aviation industry to see $90 billion investment by 2020: Survey

DUBAI: Middle East region has high potential for airport investment and expansion in the next five years where an estimated $90 billion is projected to go into the aviation industry by 2020, says a survey.

According to the survey carried out by the Airport Show ahead of the next month's inaugural Global Airport Leaders' Forum (GALF), 64.4 per cent of respondents voted online for the Middle East region, followed by the Asia Pacific with 16.7 per cent, Central Asia and Africa regions with 5.2 per cent each and Europe with 3.4 per cent.

Airport Show is a leading airport event for the Middle East, North Africa and Indian subcontinent region.

The Middle East region is project to handle 400 million air passengers by 2020, including 98 million by Dubai airport, now ranked the world's second busiest airport, the survey said.

"An investment of $90 billion is projected to go into aviation industry in the Middle East by the year 2020," it added.

"Senior executives from across the international aviation industry have contributed to the survey and we believe the survey results will contribute significantly to the important discussions at the Global Airport Leaders' Forum and help highlight the key challenges and opportunities industry leaders face today," said Daniyal Qureshi, event director of the Airport Show.

The survey, based on responses from 273 senior executives, also underlined their thoughts on airport growth sustainability, non-aeronautical revenues creation, human resources development, areas of improvement for enhanced airport passenger experience and the importance of airport technology investments.

Over 88 per cent of survey participants agreed that satisfactory sustainable airport growth could be achieved if leadership and stakeholders work together to develop a collaborative aviation policy.