2.77 million tons of air cargo volume

39.88 million passengers will travel through the country's airports in 2020

Saif Al-Suwaidi: "The issuance of a safety decision for the return of the 737 MAX plane to service, next February."

The Director General of the General Authority of Civil Aviation, Saif Al-Suwaidi, said that the total number of passengers through the country's airports, during the past year, reached 39 million and 881 thousand and 490 passengers, despite travel restrictions and airport closures around the world due to the "Covid-19" pandemic.

Al-Suwaidi added to “Emirates Today” that the number of passengers, during last December, witnessed a remarkable increase through the UAE airports, compared to the previous months, as the UAE airports were able to deal with 3 million 105 thousand and 168 passengers.

He stated that the total volume of air freight through the country's airports, in turn, reached about 2.77 million tons, during the year 2020 as a whole.

Al-Suwaidi pointed out that the Corona pandemic caused a crisis for the aviation sector in all markets around the world, with the significant decline in the number of travelers due to travel restrictions, but compared to other countries, the UAE market situation was relatively better.

Al-Suwaidi explained that the performance indicators during the current year are largely related to the extent of the improvement in the global situation in terms of combating and containing the Corona virus, in addition to the rate of vaccination among the world's population, pointing out that the UAE is an international corridor and the center of a large network of air transport services.

In addition, Al-Suwaidi said that the General Authority of Civil Aviation will issue, during the coming period, the final update of the safety decision for the return of the Boeing 737 MAX to service.

He explained that the new version of the safety decision includes the latest updates on the corrective measures to be applied by airlines operating the Max planes, and indicated that the technical committee in the authority is currently working on evaluating the additional requirements that were mentioned in the latest version of the authority directive issued by the European Aviation Safety Agency. .

He added that the evaluation would be completed within a two-week period, after which a safety decision would be issued for the return of the 737 MAX, in mid-February, which would indicate the expected time stage for the aircraft to restart.

The Corona pandemic has caused a crisis for the aviation sector in all markets around the world.

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