Dubai Airshow 2025: AI and technology transforming air mobility

The Dubai Airshow 2025 put technology and artificial intelligence (AI) at the centre of the aviation conversation. Across airlines and airports, AI is helping to predict traffic patterns, detect potential conflicts between aircraft, and assist operational decision-making, making airspace safer and operations more efficient.

“For Dubai Airports, the future will come through unifying our data platforms, making it easier to manipulate information and derive insights,” said Omar Binadai, chief technology and infrastructure officer at Dubai Airport. “AI will be a major area of focus, especially predictive tools that help optimise operations.”

These predictive capabilities, he added, are essential as the airport prepares for the next generation of air mobility, including urban air taxis and more autonomous systems.

“If you run a business today, you need to prepare for this new world in AI,” said Marc Philippe Lumpe, chief operations officer at Air Transat. “For most organisations, adopting AI requires a full digital transformation. When implementing AI solutions, you want to focus on initiatives that bring real value, ideally covering end-to-end processes before transferring them to the AI world.”

Despite the growing role of AI, human expertise remains central. Ibraheem Sheerah, chief transformation officer at Saudia, explained that technology alone cannot replace people. “No matter what AI can do, we need the human touch,” he said. “Customer experience is key. Everything we do today is about speed, efficiency and ensuring passengers feel the service is seamless.”

Christiaan Hen, CEO of Assaia, highlighted how AI systems function as decision-support tools that learn from human behaviour. “In aviation, AI observes how humans do their jobs to improve continuously,” he said. “One of the biggest challenges is finding enough talent to manage these innovations effectively.”

Hen also pointed to the acceleration of opportunities brought by mobile connectivity and the internet, with ongoing investments in AI enabling airlines and airports to innovate faster than ever.

Operational efficiency is another area where technology delivers measurable results. Hamdi Osman, founder and CEO of SolitAir Holding, described how precise measurement and monitoring are transforming daily aviation operations.

“We are a technology company with transportation on top,” he said. “For example, offloading an aircraft, which used to take an hour, now happens in significantly less time. Technology allows us to optimise every step of the process.”

The panel emphasised that the combination of AI, automation and human expertise is key to the future of aviation. Leaders agreed that digitisation is a prerequisite for large-scale AI adoption, and that predictive analytics and unified data platforms will become central to airport and airline operations.

As Dubai positions itself as a hub for next-generation air mobility, the integration of AI and real-time data will be critical. Those organisations that embrace these changes today, the panel concluded, will shape the future of air travel tomorrow.