The United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Qatar have signed an agreement on Air Transport Services to provide more opportunities to their national airlines and promote and encourage economic cooperation and trade exchanges, UAE’s General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) said.

Director General of the UAE General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), Saif Mohammed Al Suwaidi (photo), and Chairman of Qatar’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), Abdullah bin Nasser Turki Al-Subaey, signed the agreement in Doha, according to UAE’s national news agency WAM.

Al Suwaidi stressed that the agreement is set to promote bilateral relations built on the spirit of understanding, mutual respect and a desire to promote the excellent relationship in the field of air transport as well as support the joint action by the Gulf Cooperation Council members to develop the sector in the region and beyond.

On her part, Laila Ali Hareb Al Muhairi, Assistant Director-General at the GCAA, noted that the UAE and Qatar account for the one of the world's largest aviation sectors in the region and the world. This agreement, she added, contributes to sustainability of this growth.