For the first time, Airport Show, to be held over three days from April 29 to May 1 at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre (DICEC), will host a Smart Airports Conference as a key component of its co-located event, Global Airport Leaders Forum (GALF) on day 1.

Taking place on the opening day of the airport industry B2B forum, the conference will bring together influential innovations that are shaping the design, features and day-to-day operations of the modern airport. Exhibitors will also showcase their breakthrough technologies that are set to shape the future airport experience.

The 19th edition of Airport Show will be held under the patronage of Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, president of Dubai Civil Aviation Authority (DCAA), chairman of Dubai Airports and chairman and chief executive of Emirates Airline and Group, over an exhibition space of 15,000 sq m in three Zabeel halls of DICEC. More than 350 leading global aviation companies are going to participate in the world’s largest annual airport exhibition together with over 7,500 attendees.

The Middle East Honeywell Smart Building Score, the first-of-its-kind global index designed for the comprehensive assessment of any building, showed that airports are leading the way for smart buildings in the region compared with other surveyed industries (hotels, hospitals, office and residential buildings, education and retail facilities).

Airports scored the highest across all verticals, leading in all categories that are considered to make a building smart – green, safe and productive – scoring an average of 80 out of a possible 100.

The smart airport market in the Middle East region is expected to reach $850 million by 2020, according to a report. The growth in the region will be spearheaded by the Gulf countries ably supported by Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Cyprus, Lebanon and Turkey. According to market research firm Technavio, the Middle East is an emerging market for smart airports mainly driven by a spurt in investments from the UAE government towards expansion of airport capacity and building efficient operations.

The global smart airports market is expected to grow to $25.9 billion by 2025. The growth could be attributed to increased penetration of automated and connected airport processes, such as self-service check-ins, smart baggage drop, and smart luggage tracking.