Working in aviation has its advantages. First, it lends itself to travel and over the past 30 years I have had the good fortune of visting, living and working in a number of great cities across the globe. Second, although its image has been battered by environmentalists (even though modern day jet aircraft are far more fuel efficient than automobiles!) and politicians (who fail recognise its considerable social and economic value and tax the heck out of it as a result), aviation still fascinates millions of people. It is because of the latter that I had one of the most enjoyable professional experiences last year.

Late in 2011 I was approached by an award winning producer John Smithson (Touching the Void, 127 Hours) who was interested in Dubai's phenomenal aviation success story. The concept was to produce a series of documentaries that captured the behind the scenes story at one of the world's fastest growing and busiest airports - Dubai International.

At first I must admit I was a bit wary. I had seen some of the sensationalistic examples of the genre and didn't want my company's brand misrepresented. As conversations continued I became convinced that this film production company (Arrow Media) was of the highest calibre and had generated some high quality documentaries previously including those involving the construction of Palm Jumeirah and the development of the A380. Additionally National Geographic is world-renowned for the quality and accuracy of its programming. So we brought the concept forward to the executive level and managed to get all parties aligned, memoranda of understanding signed and support resources identified. That in itself took about 6-7 months of relatively intensive effort. Filming began in August of 2012 and wrapped up in February of this year. As the airport is a secured environment, and in order to ensure crews had access to informed and colourful employees and operational locations, our PR team escorted film crews everywhere. And, as our airport is 24/7 and is at its busiest from 2300-0200, that meant a lot of long days and late nights.

During the filming, and despite the fact that I have worked in this industry for a long time, I learned an amazing amount about some of the intricate detail surrounding airport operations...much of which will be conveyed in the 10-part series 'Dubai - Ultimate Airport'.

 The personal highlight of the project was an aerial shoot I was asked to support. Aerial shoots are incredibly complex (thankfully the leg work was done by a very talented producer from Arrow Media Jules Hawkins) and expensive so the pressure to capture stunning images is intense. (note these photos are from my blackberry so the quality is marginal)

A sophisticated camera is mounted under the cockpit of the helicopter. It features a special lens and can rotate 360 degrees. It also requires an expert operator who in this case was flown in from the UK for the shoot. Flying around for an hour next to some of the most impressive buildings on the planet is truly an incredible experience.

The footage taken of the airport and the city was absolutely stunning and will be sure to impress when the series airs in over 160 countries, to more than 500 million viewers globally on the National Geographic network later this year.

This was by far the most exciting and rewarding project I have ever managed. I can only hope the millions of viewers around the world will gain a greater understanding of our industry and a full appreciation of what an amazing place Dubai is and what an incredible story its aviation community has to tell.  

Keep your eyes peeled for this fascinating series, coming to your television set in September/October!