UAE signs air services agreement with Zimbabwe and Niger

The agreement was initialed by Mr. Omar Bin Ghaleb, Deputy Director General of the UAE General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) and Mr. Munesushe Munodawafa, Secretary for Transport, Communications and Infrastructural Development of the Republic of Zimbabwe. Representatives from Abu Dhabi Department of Transport, Dubai Civil Aviation Authority, Sharjah Department of Civil Aviation, Ras Al Khaimah Department of Civil Aviation, Etihad Airways, Emirates Airline and RAK Airways attended the negotiations.

Mr. Ghaleb has also signed an air services Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and initialed an Air Services Agreement (ASA) with the Government of the Republic of Niger in Dubai on 04 October 2012. H.E Seydou Yahe Amadou, Director General of the National Civil Aviation Agency of the Republic of Niger, signed on behalf of the government of Niger.

The MoUs allows full flexibility on the routes, capacity, number of frequencies and types of aircraft, in any type of service (passenger or cargo). The signed memorandum also includes the exercise of fifth freedom traffic rights. In addition, both Parties agreed to allow unrestricted non-scheduled / charter operations between the two countries.

Air Transport Agreements go in line with the directions of UAE Government, according to Ms. Laila Hareb, Executive Director of Strategy and International Affairs at GCAA. UAE Ministry of Foreign Trade declared last month that UAE is seeking investment opportunities in African states such as Zambia. Aviation related agreements play a major role in enhancing the passenger and cargo movements between UAE and other states.

Mr. Omar Bin Ghaleb stressed the importance of this Agreement, which will further boost the travel and trade between UAE and Zimbabwe.
UAE now has air services agreements with over 150 countries, of which 116 are open skies or fully liberal arrangements.