CJI Dubai 2022

The Middle East business aviation market is having a good run, with demand at record levels. But no one is getting complacent. Words: Alasdair Whyte

Delegates enjoyed networking between the conference sessions.

CJI Dubai 2022

The Middle East business aviation market is having a good run, with demand at record levels. But no one is getting complacent. Words: Alasdair Whyte

Delegates enjoyed networking between the conference sessions.

MANY ECONOMIES in the Middle East are booming. High energy prices and countries trying to get oil and gas from other countries are helping the region. The week that Corporate Jet Investor Dubai 2022 ran at the Fairmont The Palm in Dubai, The Economist ran a cover story saying that Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait and Oman will benefit from a “$3.5trn energy bonanza over the next five years”.

The region’s business jet operators are seeing this boom. “Without a doubt, business is back. And business is booming,” said Norbert Ehrich, vice president, EMEA, Flight Services, Jet Aviation. “The Middle East is a very, very strong market right now. Our flight activity for the fleet is definitely back to pre-Covid numbers.”

Boris Wolstenholme, MD, Business Aviation, Gama Aviation, agreed: “In the Middle East we have seen a net increase in our managed fleet. Plus there has been an increase in activity at Sharjah FBO and in demand for maintenance.”

Holger Ostheimer, MD, DC Aviation Al-Futtaim said demand had been boosted by sporting events in the past 12 months – including strong demand from the Indian Premier League cricket tournament. Operators were also looking forward to more demand from the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.

Open for discussion: Is Saudi Arabia open for business? That was the topic considered by (second from left) Yosef Hafiz, NASJET, Jeremie Caillet, Jet Aviation and Mohammed Bokhari, Aviation Horizons.

Fairmont The Palm in Dubai was the venue for CJI Dubai 2022.

“We are seeing tremendous issues with parts and maintenance. It is a major issue affecting the market. We have had planes grounded because of a lack of windshields and deals falling apart because of maintenance issues. The demand is there, but it's hard to keep aircraft flying to satisfy customers,” said Karan Singh, CEO, Titan Aviation.

The Middle East is a unique market. Alex Fecteau, director of Marketing, Boeing Business Jets, showed this. “It is a very good market in the Middle East, but there are characteristics that are different to other regions,” he said. The Middle East accounts for around 800 aircraft – compared with around 16,000 in the US. But the Middle East has a much larger percentage of larger jets – in fact the two markets have a similar number of bizliners.

One country that is keen to grow its business aviation industry is the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 programme is best known for its planned megaprojects – which include the new economic area NEOM – which includes ‘The Line’ – a 170km-long straight-line city and the Red Sea Project which aims to encourage tourism.

“Not one person in Saudi Arabia has any doubt these projects will happen,” said Mohammed Bokhari, CEO of Aviation Horizons, a well-established business jet and cargo operator.

Alex Fecteau, Boeing Business Jets, told delegates: “It’s a very good market in the Middle East, but there are characteristics that are different to other regions.”

Mohammed Al Husary, UAS International Trip Support explained why staff are the secret to recession-proof business aviation.

Vision 2030 has three pillars: first, the country’s status as the heart of the Arab and Islamic worlds; second, making the country a global investment powerhouse; and third, making Saudi Arabia a global hub by connecting Africa, Asia and Europe.

Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) wants to grow business aviation to help make Vision 2030 a reality. The country is set to add four dedicated business aviation airports, 11 private jet terminals/FBOs and more than 400 helipads. (NEOM is being built with electric vertical aircraft in mind).

“Saudi Arabia is very much open for business aviation,” said Yosef Hafiz, vice-president, Sales and Marketing at NASJET. “And there is going to be very strong growth with opportunities for both local and international companies.”

GACA is aiming to grow business jet flights from 17,000 to 93,000 per year by 2030. “We definitely see Saudi Arabia as one of the most exciting markets,” said Jeremie Caillet, senior vice president, Regional Operations, Europe, Middle East and Africa. Jet Aviation has operated in the country for more than 40 years.

Several Dubai operators were privately sceptical that the kingdom will overtake the UAE as a business aviation hub. “It took years of work for Dubai to overtake Saudi Arabia as the centre of business aviation and it is a mistake to underestimate all of this,” said one. “And there is no way that Dubai will give this lead up easily.”

“Without a doubt, business is back and business is booming.”

Norbert Ehrich, Jet Aviation

Madhu Muraleei, Action Aviation, chats to delegates during break time.

“Business is going well but in reality, we are under attack.”

Ali Ahmed Alnaqbi, MEBAA

Adel Mardini, Jetex told delegates why there has been almost $9bn spent on FBOs acquisitions in the past two years.

Dubai has ended up as a base for a significant number of Russian-owned business jets. With manufacturers no longer supporting them, many non-sanctioned Russian owners are now selling their aircraft. Several aircraft have now traded with dealers taking title. No one is interested in working with any individual or aircraft on a sanctions list.

Although there were no signs of demand falling, no one is getting complacent. “All markets are cyclical, so it is going to go down at some point - it’s just a question of when, right? To me, what is important is that there is some movement,” said Titan’s Singh. “In upward markets, there are lots of opportunities, but I have made some of the best deals when the market is going down. For me, stagnation is the enemy. I don’t see any significant slow down yet, but it will eventually. However, I am optimistic that it won’t be anything drastic – I'm keeping my fingers crossed, that's not wishful thinking.”

But for now, everyone still sees growth. Sidhant Sharma, director, Commercial and Legal, at registry 2-REG agreed: “We are still seeing the recovery in the Middle East and Asia and it is not slowing down. Asia is still very much in progress, so is the Middle East.”

Ali Ahmed Alnaqbi, founding and executive chairman at the Middle East and North African Business Aviation Association also warned of getting carried away. He started the conference with a warning: “Business is going well but in reality, we are under attack,”

Alnaqbi highlighted the recent issues in France where politicians have talked about banning internal flights. He stressed that the industry needs to focus on sustainability and giving back with humanitarian flights. Some 63% of delegates felt that the industry was under attack. Alnaqbi had one solution: “We need to be leaders, not followers.”