Over 3,000 people attended the fourth Aircraft Interiors Middle East (AIME) show co-located with the fifth Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) show on January 22 and 23 at the Dubai World Trade Centre.
Attendance was 25% higher than 2011 at the event and exhibitor levels were 15% higher with 226 exhibitors.
There were new country pavilions representing the Netherlands and Ireland. There was also an inflight entertainment and connectivity (IFEC) pavilion. The Hosted Buyers programme was also included to connect airline buyers with new and existing suppliers and providers.
The MRO Conference tackled issues of manpower shortages. Ahmad A. Alzabin, chairman and CEO of ALAFCO Aviation Lease and Finance Company said in his closing keynote speech: “Our man power requirements as per our business plan is around nine million man hours per year. If you transfer this to the number of employees it will work out at 7820 workers, our current workforce is dropping very fast mainly due to retirement so for now for us to achieve our business plan we need to hire almost 4,500 people and we have to hire them, train them, certify them, transfer their experience and keep them motivated – this is a very big job. But we are lucky in Saudi Arabia as the government will help – they will pay for a lot of education as long as we guarantee employment.”
Global aviation software provider, Ramco Systems entered a five-year master supply agreement with Emirates at the show.
Next year, the next events will take place on 5 and 6 February.