Abu Dhabi, the Gulf Center for Aviation Studies (GCAS), the training subsidiary of Abu Dhabi Airports Company, concluded the first training program on performance based operations in the air traffic industry.

The program, which comprised two courses conducted by AVTECH Middle East, attended by stakeholders and operational managers from the United Arab Emirates air traffic sector.

The first course held on the 22 May 2012 focused on the topic of increasing airspace capacity, efficiency, covered performance based operations elements and its effects on capacity, throughput, predictability, efficiency,and safety.

The second course, a two day session held between 23-24 May 2012 focusing on operational possibilities and practical handling of required navigation performance (RNP). The course covered a number of concepts such as continuous descent approaches (“Green Approaches”) which looks at the means organizations in the air traffic industry can increase efficiency in terms of savings in time,fuel, and overall improvement in capacity management.

Khalid Al Breiki, GCAS's deputy general manager, commented, “The Middle East - and the UAE in particular - continue to lead the growth of the region’s aviation industry and while airports and airlines are expanding rapidly there are still plenty of opportunities to optimize and ensure efficiency in all aspects of operations. As GCAS strives to become the leading aviation training center in the region, it is carefully looking into areas that require developing to ultimately aid in enhancing the region’s industry.”

Both the courses touched on the SESAR (Single European SkyATM Research) concept of time based operations, maturity and implementation schedule, and the advantages that SESAR could bring to the UAE.