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ABU DHABI / WAM
The Global Manufacturing and Industrialisation Summit (GMIS 2017), aerospace leaders have highlighted the importance of the aerospace industry as a major contributor to global Gross Domestic Product, adding that the international air transport alone contributes US$2.7 trillion. They
also discussed the future of the aerospace industry that supports 10 million people globally through direct employment,
with an additional 63.5 million supported indirectly.
In a panel at the GMIS 2017, Jan Pie, Secretary-General, Aerospace and Defence Industries Association of Europe, ASD, and Chairman Elect, International Coordinating Council of AerospaceIndustries Associations, ICCAIA, said, “While the outlook is rosy, there are still a number of challenges in the aerospace industry that need to be addressed, such as market demand growing at 45 percent on an annual basis. There are around 17,000 aircraft currently flying with a capacity of at least 100 passengers or capable of carrying 10 tonnes of goods or more. In 20 years time, there will need to be around 30,000 aircraft available and a number of the existing aircraft will no longer be in operation in 20 years, even with upgrades.
Other key issues the industry faces include safety, even though air travel today is safer than ever.