29 September 2016, Montreal, Canada – The UAE General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) and SESAR Joint Undertaking (SJU) have announced a new partnership aimed at improving the overall efficiency of air traffic management (ATM), optimising air traffic capacity and minimising air traffic delays.

The GCAA and the SJU signed a Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) to enhance collaboration between their respective air traffic management (ATM) modernisation initiatives in order to contribute to the development and harmonisation towards global interoperability. The scope of the collaboration between the parties includes the sharing of information, knowledge and expertise and co-operating in activities related to ATM modernization .

The agreement was signed by H.E. Saif Mohammed Al Suwaidi, Director General of the UAE GCAA and Florian Guillermet, Executive Director of SESAR Joint Undertaking. The signing ceremony took place at the headquarters of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) in Montreal, Canada, where leaders in the field of aviation are currently meeting for ICAO’s triennial General Assembly.

H.E. Saif Mohammed Al Suwaidi said: “It is with great honour that we announce our collaboration with SESAR Joint Undertaking. We are constantly seeking new opportunities to develop strategic partnerships with industry leaders with the aim of setting new benchmarks across the field of aviation. We look forward to working with SJU to improve the overall efficiency of ATM”.

The agreement also provides the framework for the organisation of interoperability demonstrations with flight trials on key SESAR concepts and solutions. The agreed cooperative arrangement recognises the importance of global harmonisation and interoperability and the need to ensure support to and alignment with ICAO’s Global Air Navigation Plan (GANP)/ASBU methodology. In this respect, both parties will work together to better understand potential gaps, synergies and performance priorities between their modernisation plans in relation to developing global standards.

Florian Guillermet said: “Traffic between the Middle East and Europe is expected to grow significantly in the coming years. Through this agreement, we will work together to align our activities in order to ensure globally interoperable systems and operations, and the seamless and efficient flow of traffic between both regions.”

The MoC follows informal consultations and discussions between the GCAA and the SJU in Brussels in 2013 and Abu Dhabi in 2014. After signing the agreement the parties established a Steering Committee to facilitate the implementation of the MoC.