After making a name for itself in military MRO, Global Aerospace Logistics (GAL) last year entered the air navigation service provision (ANSP) business to address openings in the busy UAE air traffic control sector. There are at least nine civil airports in the UAE within the IATA designation framework, and many other military bases.

GAL Air Navigation Services (GAL ANS) is a limited liability company based in Abu Dhabi, and jointly owned by Emirates Advanced Investments Group (EAIG) and International Golden Group (IGG). Some 50 percent of GAL ANS employees are Emirati.

EAIG claims to have set up more than 20 successful companies since 2006 in the UAE, in defense and food industries, healthcare and communications, and six international joint ventures. It employs more than 5,000 people, more than 30 percent of them Emirati. Meanwhile, IGG is a provider of integrated defense systems.

GAL ANS is a formal division of the mother company, which was established in Al Ain in 2007. “At that time, we focussed on rotary-wing aircraft MRO, supply management and modification, upgrade and integration,” Dr. Hassan Alawadhi, CEO of GAL ANS, told AIN. “We supported the UAE armed forces on line management and supply chain,” he added.

“In 2014, we [turned to] air navigation services, so we split the original company into GAL MRO and GAL ANS, which supports both the UAE military and civilian side.”

GAL ANS (Stand 700) has a presence at Abu Dhabi International Airport, Al Bateen, the executive airport, Al Ain, and Delma and Sir Baniyas Islands, with employees usually manning the tower and final approach sectors. It is also present at Ras Al Khaimah Airport.

“We are in many places in the UAE. We also have some business with Sharjah Airport. We are working with Dubai Air Navigation Services [DANS],” said Alawadhi.

Several factors make air traffic control a bigger headache in the UAE than in other jurisdictions. In addition to a large number of airports, the military controls half the country’s airspace.

The skies over Dubai and Sharjah International Airports are treated as one block as there is only 17 km between them. “In the UAE, the airspace is very congested. That is a big challenge,” he said.

Training for a career as an air traffic controller in the UAE is open only to Emirati nationals, GAL ANS officials told AIN. International staffers with three years’ experience are also brought in to participate in the sector, however.

“It depends on which unit they go to. If you take Abu Dhabi International Airport as an example, basic training takes one year, and then we validate them as air traffic control assistants,” he said. “They do six months as ACTAs, then they go back to training, and then back to their unit. It probably takes two-and-a-half to three years to train them as operational controllers.”

“The primary business objective of GAL ANS is to become a full and active ANSP in the civil market, starting in the UAE, and then expanding throughout the GCC and MENA,” concluded Alawadhi.