8 may 2024

The General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) is organizing the third Future of Aviation International Conference, from May 20 to 22, 2024, in Riyadh. The theme for this year’s conference is: “Enhancing the level of global connectivity.” More than 5,000 senior officials and leaders of the world’s aviation sectors and heads of international airlines are set to participate in the event.

His Excellency the Minister of Transport and Logistics and Chairman of the GACA Board of Directors, Engineer Saleh bin Nasser Al-Jasser, said: “The sponsorship of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, for this major conference comes as an extension of his unlimited support for the aviation sector, as well as that of His Highness the Crown Prince - may God protect them.”

Al-Jasser added, “Holding the conference for the third time in Riyadh signifies the Kingdom’s keenness to empower the air transport industry and its contributions to the aviation sector at the global level. It also marks the Kingdom’s outstanding efforts to enhance air connectivity, and aligns with the objectives of the aviation strategy stemming from the Saudi Strategy for Transport and Logistics and Saudi Vision 2030.

Al-Jasser stated that the aviation sector in the Kingdom offers unparalleled economic growth and investment opportunities in the field of aviation globally, as the aviation strategy aims to double the number of passengers, connect the Kingdom to more than 250 destinations around the world, raise the level of freight to 4.5 million tons of goods annually, and establish Saudi Arabia as an international aviation hub and a global center for logistics services.

The Minister confirmed that major projects under development in the transport and logistics sector make the Kingdom an attractive area for investment. The projects are also essential enabling factors in the country’s broader economic transformation plan. In fact, the event will review investment opportunities worth more than $100 billion, with the aim of transforming the Kingdom into a leading logistics center in the Middle East and thereby contributing to the goals of Saudi Vision 2030. Al-Jasser added that this major package of development projects also offers promising opportunities for partnership and integration between the public and private sectors. Such initiatives will support economic growth and contribute to sustainable development.

The conference provides a unique platform to discuss the future of the aviation sector and ways to contribute to new and unprecedented growth opportunities. The event will also be a forum to discuss the main elements that will reshape the future of the global aviation sector, such as air transport, boosting environmental sustainability in the field of civil aviation, enabling advanced air mobility, enhancing global connectivity, and working to strengthen supply chains.

The third Future of Aviation Conference 2024 will also focus on a number of issues facing the global aviation sector and ways to confront priority challenges.

GACA’s organization of the Future of Aviation Conference 2024, which is the most prominent global aviation event this year, comes after an exceptional year for air traffic in the Kingdom. During 2023, the country recorded approximately 112 million passengers traveling through its various airports, an increase of 26 percent.