From May 20 to 22, the Future Aviation Forum 2024 took place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. On the first day of the event, the General Authority of Civil Aviation announced that 47 Memorandums of Understanding, agreements, and partnerships were worth $19 billion.
The agreements ranged from air navigation, aircraft purchase orders, maintenance, repair, and refurbishing, aviation services, cargo and logistics, and information technology, among others.
More than 120 nations with professionals and leaders in the field got together in the forum to discuss issues such as supply chain management, resilience, growth, investment, airports, and air connectivity. This was aimed at fostering collaboration and innovative ideas for the industry's future financial success.
The event took place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on May 21, 2024. A total of 19 billion dollars in agreements, treaties, and Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) were announced by the General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) on the first day of the Future Aviation Forum 2024, taking place in Riyadh from May 20–22. The forum was frequented by the guardian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud.
Maintenance, repair, and refurbishment agreements, aircraft purchase orders, advanced air navigation, logistics and cargo services, information technology, and human resource development were among them. These included maintenance, repair, and upgrade agreements.
Over thirty ministers, seventy-seven chiefs of civil aviation authorities, CEOs of international airlines, 5,000 aviation industry specialists, and executives from over a hundred and twenty nations will attend the third annual gathering.
Growth, investment, airports, air connectivity, supply chain management, resilience, human resources, and sustainability are just a few of the themes covered during the event.
Saleh bin Nasser Al-Jasser, Minister of Transport and Logistic Services and Chairman of the GACA Board of Directors, said in his opening remarks at the forum that the Kingdom is actively working to create thousands of jobs for its citizens and that it offers the private sector enormous opportunities.
According to the minister, the purpose of the event is to bring together professionals and leaders in the aviation business from across the globe to collaborate and develop creative ideas that will drive the sector into a more prosperous future.
Abdulaziz bin Abdullah Al-Duailej, President of the GACA, stated that the first day of the forum was extremely fruitful, containing a host of business partnerships, projects, and agreements aimed at increasing global connectivity.
The agreements signed during the event reflected people's confidence in the potential for expansion and investment in the civil aviation industry in the Kingdom.The president of the GACA group stated, "These agreements further demonstrate the Kingdom's leadership position in the international aviation industry."
On the first day of the summit, the GACA inked several aviation service agreements with a number of nations, including Brunei Darussalam, Mozambique, Eswatini, and Cambodia.
An agreement has been concluded between Airbus and Saudi Arabian Airlines (Saudia) to purchase 105 A320- and A321-Neo aircraft. This will enable Saudi Arabia to grow and modernize its fleet, which will eventually lead to better international air connections with other countries.
During the meeting, the GACA also unveiled the initial version of the Kingdom's aviation industry report. This report highlighted how the civil aviation industry supported the Kingdom's $53 billion GDP and created 958,000 employment in various locations.
Moreover, the GACA endeavored to formulate a general aviation strategy aimed at augmenting the business aviation and private aircraft sectors of the Kingdom by a factor of ten by 2030. This proposal calls for the construction of nine lounges inside commercial airports and the classification of six airports for general aviation. This effort is expected to result in the addition of 35,000 new employment.