DUBAI, 21st November, 2025 (WAM) -- Abdelhafid Mordi, Chief Executive Officer of Thales in the UAE, affirmed that the United Arab Emirates has consolidated its position as one of the world's fastest-growing and most innovative aviation and space hubs, thanks to its ambitious vision and its ability to establish advanced infrastructure and long-term partnerships that enable global companies to expand capabilities and localise technologies.

Speaking to the Emirates News Agency (WAM) on the sidelines of the Dubai Airshow 2025, he said the relationship between the company and the UAE has evolved into a strategic partnership that includes local manufacturing and the expansion of engineering competencies, noting that the UAE provides an ideal environment to strengthen research and development and build future sovereign technologies.

Mordi said artificial intelligence has become a key driver of the sector's future by improving real-time decision-making and reducing fuel consumption and emissions, adding that digital transformation supports the development of aviation and airport operations, enhances operational efficiency and enables more customised passenger services and improved predictive maintenance.

He noted that communications technologies and predictive analytics contribute to making aircraft operations more sustainable by enabling early fault detection and proactive maintenance planning, reducing unplanned downtime and avoiding unnecessary component replacement.

He explained that by 2030, the company's air traffic management innovations alone could help reduce carbon dioxide emissions by up to 10 percent.

Mordi highlighted that the role of artificial intelligence will grow further with the expansion of electric aircraft and new air mobility vehicles such as eVTOL and unmanned aircraft. He said the fifth cycle of the company's Aviation X Lab, launched during the airshow, serves as a key platform for transforming advanced concepts into practical solutions and supporting a safer and more sustainable future for the next billion passengers.

He affirmed that supporting national talent is a core pillar of the company's strategy, noting that Thales in the UAE provides an industrial work environment for Emirati engineers, in addition to training and recruitment programmes for graduates and expanded cooperation with national institutions to ensure knowledge transfer and the consolidation of intellectual property locally.

On the company's highlights at Dubai Airshow 2025, he said the participation marks an important opportunity to showcase advanced solutions, including defence and space technologies, unmanned aircraft systems, advanced radars, the low-Earth orbit satellite-based LEO-PNT navigation and positioning system and the latest avionics solutions.