The future of aviation staffing in the UAE is poised to meet all demands as training and recruitment across different levels in Emirates airlines and flydubai are at an all-time high in a post pandemic world.

This was revealed by Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman of Dubai Civil Aviation Authority, Chairman and Chief Executive of Emirates Airline and Group, during a media roundtable discussion that was held on the sidelines of the ongoing Arabian Travel Market (ATM) 2022.

“Staffing across various levels have been opened in the sector whether its cabin crew or other members of the staff. We’ve been moving with our training facility at maximum capacity now…. Bringing people to be trained and certified. I would say this has reached over 80 per cent,” Sheikh Ahmed opined on Tuesday.

He said Dubai’s travel and aviation sector is ready to leave the pandemic situation behind, and there is a pent-up demand in the market, which is only getting stronger since a post pandemic recovery.

He underlined: “I think people really want to see themselves travelling as they haven’t travelled in the past two years. They want to meet their relatives or travel for different purposes. People are coming here to do business and they are satisfied with the policies and that’s a positive sign that we see. We are trying to go back to pre-Covid times. This is something we are working hard on. We are also planning profits in 2023.”

Noting that while some of the markets are taking their time to recover and the current political situation in some countries can have ripple effects possibly delaying the recovery of the aviation sector worldwide, Sheikh Ahmed said: “It is very difficult to say what exactly will happen especially, given the political situation around us. It always has its effect whether it’s happening in Europe, the Far East, or South America. It has an impact on the sector as a whole. I hope the Ukraine problem to be solved soon.

“Passenger numbers are not completely like what it was before the pandemic, still some countries are restricted and operations in those countries are not happening to the optimum level. Additionally, there are issues related to supply chain and how difficult it is to really get people back to work and this is everywhere. But slowly I think we are coming back. I hope by the end of the year things would be much better and we would have a clearer picture.”

But he added “there is certainly scope to do more”.

“If there is another (new) pandemic… Countries and people have learnt a lot and I am sure they will deal with it differently and we should do much better (next time),” he added.

Elucidating on Dubai’s enhanced reputation as a go-to destination and rapidly increasing passenger numbers he further said: “I hope by the end of the year, we will be able to go up to a full capacity. Therefore, we anticipate a ramp up in passenger numbers next year, and that is why Dubai International Airport’s (DXB) upgradation is happening this year and will end soon. We thought let's finish the job this year and then we forget about it for the next 10 years.”

Meanwhile, shedding light on how the UAE aviation and hospitality industries are looking to cease the opportunity and gearing up to cash in on the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022’s travel rush, Sheikh Ahmed said: “I am hopeful that the spillover impact will be positive. I am sure that Dubai should do very well because they have the hotel rooms to cater to different kinds of people. The hotels and the logistics people need to tap into Dubai and the facilities available here.”

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