"balance" And Thales" They promote innovation in air traffic flow management in the Emirates

2025/11/18 9:27:04 PM

2 minutes read

Dubai, November 18 / WAM / The Tawazun Defense Empowerment Council (Tawazun) and Thales signed an agreement in the field of enhancing innovation in air traffic flow management in the UAE.

The agreement, which was signed during the Dubai Airshow 2025, aims to develop and implement an advanced air traffic flow management system (ATFM) with the aim of enhancing safety, efficiency and sustainability in the aviation sector system in the UAE, in cooperation with Global Air Navigation Services (GANS) as a local partner, to be operated and used by the General Civil Aviation Authority.

Matar Al Rumaithi, Director General of Defense Industries Development at the Tawazun Defense Empowerment Council, said that this signing represents an important step in strengthening the UAE’s position as a leading center in the field of innovation and advanced technologies in the aviation sector. The project aims to enable smooth cooperation between the authorities concerned with the aviation sector in the country to manage the flow of air traffic more efficiently and improve the use of national airspace resources.

He added that in line with Tawazun’s role in empowering national capabilities and supporting industrial growth, the project will contribute to achieving a local economic impact through localization, local software development, and creating new sources of revenue within the country’s aviation sector.

For his part, Abdul Hafeez Mardi, Vice President of Thales in the Emirates and Iraq and CEO of Thales Emirates Technologies, said that this cooperation enhances the UAE’s ambition to build a more advanced and efficient airspace in the world, stressing that the agreement establishes a foundation for a safer aviation sector, more advanced operations, and more sustainable growth, by integrating Thales’s global leadership in managing the flow of air traffic and the future vision of local partners.

Under this agreement, Thales will cooperate with the General Authority of Civil Aviation and GANS to support the development of the new Air Traffic Flow Management (ATFM) system, by utilizing its approved software in the field of air traffic flow management as a basic platform, and working to develop new ATFM features and functions within the framework of the Air Traffic Management Innovation Laboratory, which is the first of its kind in the UAE.

This laboratory will serve as a center for innovation, experiments and research, and an environment for integrating emerging technologies into existing air traffic management systems. JANS will supervise the design and development of the platform, which will be operated and used by the General Authority of Civil Aviation with the aim of enhancing the efficiency of air traffic management at the state level and raising its operational readiness.

With the presence of advanced innovation laboratories in the field of air traffic management in France, Australia and Singapore, the proposed laboratory in Abu Dhabi became the fourth in the world and the first in the Middle East region, which confirmed the growing role of the UAE as a global center for innovation in advanced airspace management.

The partnership also includes cooperation with national authorities concerned with the aviation sector, including Abu Dhabi Airports, Etihad Airways, and Dubai Air Navigation Services (DANS), through innovation teams dedicated to developing future air traffic management solutions.