UAE inks historic bilateral agreement with Brazil and Argentina

The agreement has also provided for intermediate stops between UAE and Brazil. This is especially significant as there is no open skies policy in either Brazil or Argentina. Argentina has agreed to five frequencies per week.

The agreement with Brazil came after a high level talk between the HE President Luis Inacio Lula Da Silva of Brazil and Mr Mohamed Yahya Al Suweidi, Assistant Undersecretary for Civil Aviation, Ministry of Communications, Abu Dhabi and Mr Mohammad Ahli, Director Operations, Department of Civil Aviation Dubai. This meeting was instigated and set up by HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of the Department of Civil Aviation, Dubai and Chairman Emirates Group, specially since Brazil has no open skies policy and tough aviation regulations.

The visit to Brazil follows a high level visit by HE President Luis Inacio Lula Da Silva of Brazil during Dubai Airshow 2003 in December. President Da Silva showed keen interest in the UAE and Dubai.

The UAE delegation, headed by Mr Mohamed Yahya Al Suweidi, Assistant Undersecretary for Civil Aviation, Ministry of Communications, Abu Dhabi, included Mr Mohammad Ahli, Director Operation, Department of Civil Aviation Dubai, Mr Senarath Liyanage, Air Transport Advisor, Ministry of Communications and Mr Mohammad Shareef, VP International Affairs Emirates. HE Yousef Ali Al-Usaimi, Ambassador of UAE to Brazil was also present at the discussions. The Brazilian and Argentinian delegation included ministers of tourism, defence, foreign affairs and senior personnel from civil aviation.

HH Sheikh Ahmed commented: "This agreement is very important to us. Trade relations between the UAE and Brazil have grown almost 67% in the last six months. It is our aim to foster this relationship and boost the economy of our country by promoting more business and tourism. With this agreement we will be opening up more new connections from Dubai International Airport."

Mr Ahli commented: "I thank HH Sheikh Ahmed for assigning this opportunity to me. This was a real challenge for the UAE delegation and I am happy to have been involved in such a successful meeting. We look forward to opening this route from Dubai. Dubai International Airport is the premier airport in the region and offers the best in terms of services and facilities. We are a true hub with over 106 airlines connecting to over 140 destinations worldwide."