MEBA Convention News 12_09_10

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Dubai DECEMBER 9, 2010 Vol. 42 No. 31

• Cessna Aircraft sees sales activity increaseThe Middle East remains a strong market for Cessna’s midsize jets, although smaller Citations could offer tremendous value, the airframer says. Page 6

• Curtain lifts slightly on super-mid FalconDassault reveals new details about its twin-engine SMS jet project, but engine selection remains top secret. Page 8

• Mideast airlines find value in bizjet opsMiddle East airlines tap into business aviation with airline-owned bizjet operations, such as Qatar Airways’ Qatar Executive and Saudi Arabian Airlines’ subsidiary Saudia Private Aviation. 2

• Supersize ‘aerotropolis’ rises in Dubai desertDubai World Central’s Al Maktoum International Airport is the hub of a growing aerotropolis, comprising 54 square miles of airport, industry, commerce, recreation and human habitation. Page 14

• Local MRO capability keeps jets close to homeGrowing development of local aircraft maintenance capability means that aircraft owners and operators don’t need to fly elsewhere for MRO services. Page 16

Despite the still rather anemic worldwide financial outlook, people came to MEBA prepared to wheel and deal and spend some considerable cash. Added to that was some optimistic predictions by OEMs of better times just around the corner, and the Middle East’s appetite for larger jets.

SaleS FlOWeR in the deSeRt

Bombardier wins big with $285 million salesby James Wynbrandt

Bombardier achieved a break through sale for its new Global 7000 yesterday when Comlux The Aviation Group signed a contract for two of the ultralongrange jets. It was the first of two deals signed here yesterday by the Canadian manufacturer, which is set to go home from Dubai with at least $285 million in new business.

Comlux selected the new model with the Middle East very much in mind. The Global 7000 will allow the aircraft management and charter operator to fly passengers nonstop from its new regional base in Bahrain to the U.S.

The Canadian airframer introduced its ultralong range Global 7000 and Global 8000 aircraft two months ago at the NBAA convention in Atlanta. The newcomers are Bombardier’s response to the challenge posed by Gulfstream’s new

G650 largecabin product.“It’s fitting that we’re here

in Dubai for the new Globals,” said Bob Horner, senior sales vice president with Bombardier Business Aircraft at a press conference announcing the orders. “We were honored to have Comlux endorse the Global 7000 and Global 8000 at the recent launch, and it is fitting that now, here at

VIP Hercules sparks new partnershipby David Donald

The Al Salam Aircraft Co. of Saudi Arabia delivered a Lockheed L100 Hercules in VIP configuration to an undisclosed customer on Tuesday. The aircraft featured an interior designed by MAZ

Aviation (Pavilion OD3), also of Saudi Arabia, and the process to complete the aircraft helped cement the relationship between the companies to the point that yesterday they announced at MEBA

a strategic partnership to design, modify and manufacture VIP aircraft cabins.

MAZ Aviation specializes in interior designs and technical consultancy, and is

Sealing the deal for a pair of Globals are (l to r) Joseph Huber, Comlux CFO; Bob Horner, Bombardier senior sales vice president; Severine Cosma, Comlux head of marketing; Christophe Pelet, Comlux head of transactions; Richard Gaona, president and CEO of Comlux; and Rafik Elias, Bombardier sales director.Continued on page 4 u

Continued on page 4 u

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TAG makes China charter breakthrough by Matt Thurber

TAG Aviation Asia and China First Mandarin Group (CFMG) signed a pre-liminary joint-venture agreement to serve the business aviation market in Asia with aircraft charter, management and main-tenance services. The agreement will be finalized when Chinese government approval is received, which is anticipated to occur in early 2011, according to Rob-ert Wells, CEO of TAG Aviation Holding.

The joint-venture company will be named TAG Aviation China and will be held 51 percent by CFMG and 49 per-cent by TAG Aviation. The deal has the potential to establish a significant new force in China’s business aviation sector, which has been slow to develop due to regulatory restrictions and bureaucracy.

“Business aviation in China is in its infancy,” Wells said. “For TAG Avia-tion it allows us the opportunity to join up with a qualified partner that is already operational in mainland China.” TAG Aviation Asia, headquartered in Hong Kong, manages and operates 15 business

aircraft and last year received an air oper-ator’s certificate (AOC) from the Hong Kong Civil Aviation Authority. That fleet doubled in size during the past 12 months and will likely double again in the next year, according Keith Morgan, TAG Avi-ation Asia chief executive officer.

CFMG’s Shenyang-based First Man-darin Business Aviation (FMBA) unit holds a Chinese AOC and a Civil Avia-tion Administration of China CCAT 145 repair station certificate. The company operates Bombardier Challenger 604s and 850s. “TAG Aviation’s reputation

with business aviation clients worldwide combined with its well-recognized global brand make an ideal match for us,” said Zhu Lili, chairwoman of FMBA, “and it is the perfect time for our two companies to join forces to serve mainland China cli-ents. We entered the exciting business-avi-ation sector in our country convinced of its enormous growth potential, and form-ing a partnership with TAG creates a key

combination in terms of both our expertise and worldwide capabilities.”

Li Dong Qi, CEO of CFMG and husband of Zhu Lili, is a former Chi-nese air force pilot who flew MiG fighters. Li attributes his interest in business avi-ation to “a deep passion for this business,” he said. “This agreement is built on friendship with [TAG Aviation founders] the Ojjeh brothers, both Man-sour and Aziz, and brings a fresh breeze of advance-ment to business aviation in China and Asia.”

TAG Aviation Asia was the second fixed-wing business aviation com-pany to receive a Hong Kong AOC. The joint-venture with CFMG, Wells said, “is the first time, as far as we know,

where a company that holds an AOC in China is not part of one of the scheduled airlines. So we felt this is a particularly unique opportunity to join forces.”

TAG Aviation began working on the joint-venture with CFMG 18 months ago. The timing for the alliance with CFMG, Wells said, “was the right combination in terms of capitalizing on the rapid growth of aircraft operations in China and the need for business aviation that did not exist perhaps 10 years ago. We believe that we have an opportunity to provide both the service and the operational expertise

in partnership with a well-qualified com-pany that’s already in existence.”

While the details of how the aircraft will be operated remain to be worked out, Wells said that the two companies’ capa-bilities and skills would complement each other. “We believe that the combination of TAG Aviation’s worldwide presence along with the knowledge of how to do things in China that First Mandarin Business Avi-ation has is going to certainly bring [the joint venture] more visibility.” o

2aaMEBA Convention News • December 9, 2010 • www.ainonline.com

hawking their wares at the bizav bazaar

Hawker Beechcraft’s sales force has made a happy hunting ground of the Middle East. Over the last three years it claims to have delivered 34 percent of all new jets coming into this part of the world, and no less than 88 percent of new turboprops. If you are ready to add to these numbers, check out this Hawker 900XP on the MEBA static line, alongside its cousins the Hawker 4000, the Beechcraft Premier IA and the new King Air 350i.� n

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Zhu Lili, chairwoman of First Mandarin Business Aviation (left) and TAG Aviation Holding CEO Robert Wells.

BGT completes Vigiplane deal

Blue Green Technology (BGT) has appointed Dubai’s Alpha Global Indus-tries (AGI) as the exclusive agent for BGT’s Vigiplane aircraft security sys-tem in the Middle East and Africa. The companies signed the agreement at MEBA yesterday.

The Vigiplane, which attaches to a patented wheel-chock system, uses Dop-pler and infrared technologies to detect and record images of any activity within a user-defined radius around the device. The units are priced at $149,000 each and weigh 17 kilograms (37 pounds).

BGT, based in Bordeaux, France, also announced at MEBA the sale of two Vigiplanes to Dubai’s Empire Aviation Group. According to Bruno Petit, BGT managing director, the French govern-ment has purchased three of the devices to guard the president’s Airbus A330. Dassault will also make the Vigiplane available as an option on new and previ-ously owned Falcon jets it sells. –J.W.

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Total Eclipse revisited as Turks revive VLJsby David Donald

Eclipse is back. Here at MEBA Eclipse Aerospace is exhibiting a Total Eclipse twin-engine very light jet modified at EA Aero-space’s recently established plati-num service center in Istanbul.

The Eclipse 500’s original man-ufacturer, Eclipse Aviation of Al-buquerque, New Mexico, went in-to bankruptcy after delivering 270 aircraft, and with a deposits-paid order book standing at 1,365. Of local interest here in Dubai, the Dubai Aerospace Enterprise Flight Academy had ordered 12 Eclipse 500s before Eclipse Aviai-ton went out of business.

A new company, Eclipse Aerospace, with Turkey’s EA Aerospace as a major share-holder, has taken over the pro-gram and has embarked on an aggressive three-part strategy to put the Eclipse back on the map.

“Our first priority was get-ting the existing fleet to fly with what the customer deserves,” said K. Ekim Alptekin, chair-man of EA Aerospace and vice president of Eclipse Aero-space. To that end the company created a new package, Total Eclipse, which was launched in March. This is a factory refit

program that brings the origi-nal Eclipse 500 up to the capa-bilities that were promised by the original manufacturer. They include a 20,000-cycle airframe, color radar, electronic moving map, Jeppesen eCharts, GPS-coupled autopilot, FIKI (flight into known icing) capability and a 41,000-foot ceiling.

Following the reinstatement of the FAA type certificate, Eclipse airplanes were restricted by an airworthiness directive to a 37,000-foot ceiling, but Eclipse Aerospace has been working on engineering changes to allow the full ceiling to be certified, and they are currently under test. A new carbon windshield strip has also been developed and certi-fied for the dissipation of precip-itation static.

In October, Eclipse Aero-space announced that a new integrated flight management system was available for the Total Eclipse. Known as AvioNG, the integrated FMS is pro-vided by Innovative Solutions and Support (IS&S) and offers a wide range of planning, navi-gation and meteorological func-tions with advanced graphics on

IS&S-supplied screens. Total Eclipse modification

work is being undertaken at three service platinum locations: Albuquerque and Chicago, Illi-nois, in the U.S., and the facil-ity in Turkey. To date nearly half of the 270-aircraft fleet has been upgraded. Several gold service locations have also been estab-lished as part of Eclipse’s second strategic goal, to establish a fully global support organization.

That aim has recently been enhanced through an agreement in principle with Sikorsky, which is finalizing the details of taking equity in Eclipse, a process due to complete around the turn of the year. For Sikorsky the deal

represents an opportunity to get into the fixed-wing world, while for Eclipse it provides fur-ther weight to the support infra-structure. “Sikorsky has certain leverages that we can plug into, such as a global supply chain,” Alptekin told AIN.

With the Total Eclipse pack-age and the support network coming together, Eclipse Aero-space has put the Eclipse jet back on the map, and is studying the third pillar of its reinvigoration, production reinstatement and the Sikorsky deal should allow that to happen faster. Production will be undertaken at a U.S. site, and possibly an overseas loca-tion, such as Turkey. “It’s not

an emotional decision,” asserts Alptekin. “We are looking at it diligently and we will do what we do for good reasons, not because there’s a Turkish shareholder.”

Alptekin sees a big market in the Middle East, though not as a big threat to existing busi-ness because the Eclipse creates for itself a whole new market in private aviation. Another fertile market for the small jet is flight training, as evidenced by the pre-vious order by Dubai Aerospace Enterprise Flight Academy.

“I expect to see a lot of acad-emies use the Eclipse,” con-cluded Alptekin. “It’s a very efficient aircraft to gain twin hours on.” o

www.ainonline.com • December 9, 2010 • MEBA Convention Newsaa3

Eclipse Aerospace, with major shareholder EA Aerospace of Turkey, bought the assets of the bankrupt Eclipse Aviation, builder of the Eclipse 500. Now the rebranded Total Eclipse very light jet has returned to Dubai.

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food, glorious food

Rizon Jet CEO Patrick Enz (left) seals a deal yesterday with Shamir Samjee, Private Flight Global director for Europe and the Middle East, making Private Flight Global, a New Zealand catering group, the preferred in-flight cuisine provider for Rizon Jet (Stand C310) a charter and management company. Private Flight provides high-quality dining for high-net-worth individuals at five-star hotels and boutique restaurants and on private residences, yachts and airplanes. Also on hand were Rizon’s Middle East general manager Faisal Alam (second left) and director of operations Captain Jared Latif. n

Arab Wings adds aircraft, MRO services

Amman-based charter operator Arab Wings (stand C218) has added an Embraer Legacy 650 to its fleet and received a license to perform MRO (maintenance, repair and overhaul) ser-vices, the company said at MEBA.

According to Manal Obeid, head of sales and marketing at the company, the Embraer is “the first Legacy 650 in the Middle East” and its MRO license, received two weeks ago, is “the first one in Jordan.”

Together with its sister company, Gulf Wings, established here in Dubai one year ago, the company now has some one dozen aircraft in its charter fleet. The addition of the large cabin Legacy 650, to be based in Amman, will be welcomed by customers because “we don’t have a heavy jet there for charter,” Obeid said.

The company has aircraft based in Dubai, Cairo, Riyadh and Kuwait as well as Amman. The majority of the fleet is privately owned, and the addi-tion of MRO services is likewise “a very

positive thing for owners if they want to put aircraft under our management,” Obeid said, because it will lower overall ownership costs.

More growth is on the way. A Leg-acy 600 will be joining the Arab Wings fleet in two weeks, and two Global 5000s will be under management when delivered–one in 2012 and one the fol-lowing year. –J.W.

airbus and cae continue training agreement

Airbus has renewed its flight train-ing agreement with CAE through 2017, covering most Airbus models, includ-ing the in-development A350XWB. In Dubai, Emirates-CAE Flight Training offers training on the A320, A330 and A340 models, which also covers the entire Airbus Corporate Jets family.

The partnership between Air-bus and CAE started in 2002 with 10 training centers and 11 full flight sim-ulators. Those numbers have grown to 60 simulators at 18 training centers in Asia, Europe, India, the Middle East and North and South America. Emir-ates-CAE offers training on 25 business aircraft types. n

00aaNBAA Convention News • October 19, 2010 • www.ainonline.com

MEBA, they are ratifying their order for two Global 7000 jets.”

“The reason we picked [the Global 7000] is because I think it will absolutely fit with our fleet perfectly,” said Comlux president Richard Gaona. As you know, we have aircraft based in Bah-rain, and it will give us the possi-bility to fly nonstop from Bahrain to anyplace from the Middle East right to America without any problem of range or cabin space.”

The entry-into-service date for the Global 7000, the larger of the two new aircraft, is set for 2016. Comlux is scheduled to take deliv-ery of its first that year and its sec-ond in 2017, the year the longer range Global 8000 is set to enter service. Both aircraft are priced at $65 million in 2010 dollars.

“What we’re doing with these two new airplanes is giving increased cabin size, increased range and increased speed at that maximum range,” Horner said.

With ranges of 7,300 nm and 7,900 nm respectively, the Global 7000 and 8000 represent an extension of Bombardier’s Global line, currently consist-ing of the Global 5000 and the Global XRS, which will remain in production.

“I really want to emphasize the family concept that Bombardier brings to the market,” Horner said. “Bombardier’s philosophy is a family of airplanes in each product group. So we have the Learjet family, we have the Chal-lenger family and now we have a full Global family, and we’re the only business jet manufacturer that offers that choice of aircraft and that range of aircraft.”

Zurich-based Comlux cur-rently operates a dozen Bombar-dier aircraft, and Gaona likened its Global XRSs to “a Swiss watch. Our flagship has flown

more than 1,000 hours on char-ter without any problem.”

The Global 7000 will feature a four-zone cabin with windows 80 percent larger than the Global XRS. “The real difference is the 7000 has an additional cabin,” Horner said. “It’s the only pur-pose-built business jet offering this size cabin at this range.”

Bombardier, based in Mon-treal, will also provide options for defining floor plans.

“One of the real differenti-ators of the Global XRS is the bespoke cabin,” Horner said. “This is, of course, going to be carried on with the 7000 and 8000. We are going to take great advantage of the extra space, but I want to emphasize how Bom-bardier works with our custom-ers to really make these machines unique. Very often we will use customers’ own designers. It’s an extension of a home, it’s an exten-sion of a yacht, and the 7000 and 8000 will be no different.”

The 7000 will have a high-speed cruise of Mach 0.90. The long-range cruise speed of 0.85 will deliver its 7,300-nm range, sufficient for flights between Dubai and New York, London and Singapore, and Beijing and Washington with 10 passengers.

The Globals will fly on an aero-dynamically efficient transonic wing, powered by GE’s high-by-pass TechX 16,500-pound-thrust engine. NOx emissions are said to be 50 percent below ICAO’s proposed Civil Aircraft Emis-sions Protocol (CAEP-6) regula-tions. Fuel efficiency is projected to be 8 percent better than that of the Global XRS.

Horner declined to provide the number of orders but said, “I can tell you the airplane has been exceptionally received since its launch at NBAA. We’ve taken a number of firm orders. They have been accepted well worldwide, but especially where we are right now, in the heart of a very important region.” o

Bombardier deals inked hereuContinued from page 1

responsible for about six large aircraft conversions annually. Al Salam has provided heavy maintenance, technical sup-port and engineering for both civil and military customers for 25 years. It has completed more than 15 executive conversions in that period, and offers signifi-cant capabilities in the VIP field. For instance, it is one of very few companies that produce virtually everything in-house, including galleys and bathroom facilities.

To illustrate the expertise of both companies, the L-100 con-version presented unique and difficult challenges, involving 12 supplemental type certificates. Along with the luxury interior, the aircraft gained a new CMC avi-onics suite with six-screen cock-pit and a Thales autopilot. More than 40 flights were required to certify the modifications.

Through the new partner-ship the companies are aiming to expand in the VIP comple-tion business. “This agreement represents a turning point and an important development in the Saudi aviation industry,” said Mohammed Nur Fallatah, presi-dent and CEO of Al Salam. “For

the first time there is cooperation between two Saudi companies with the aim of attracting busi-ness to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, showing the maturity reached by the Saudi aviation industry and its ability to com-pete globally.”

The new partnership will benefit the wider Saudi and Middle East aviation industry as it represents the first capabil-ity in the region to offer a full service from design through to certification. It will also benefit local operators, as well as OEMs seeking partners in the region. MAZ will use Al Salam for its own modification requirements,

and will strongly recommend the company for conversions for its other customers.

Saudi business aviation has shown little sign of a slump dur-ing the global recession, with both companies registering strong results over the last two years. “Saudi Arabia is a ma-ture market,” commented MAZ chairman Mohammed Bin Ha-mad Al-Zeer. “Our studies show that most operators replace their aircraft every eight years or so, and many have taken advantage of the crisis to buy new. Saudis are smart: they know that such discount levels won’t come along again for quite a while.” o

Jet Air Flug Buys Seven Bombardier Business Jets

Bombardier yesterday landed firm orders for five midsize Learjet 85 and two large-cabin Challenger 605 jets from Mu-nich-based Jet Air Flug. “Our strategy is clear,” said Patrick Raftery, group CEO, Jet Air.

“We want to combine the world’s most advanced aircraft with the highest safety standards along with the world’s best service,” he continued. “The Learjet 85 and the Challenger 605 jets complement each other very well, offering the perfect range and cabin versatility. Adding these new jets to our fleet will ensure we meet the needs of our very strong existing customer base in Western Europe and Russia as well as supporting our ambitious plans into Africa.”

Total value of the order is approximately $155 million, based on the 2010 list price for typically equipped aircraft.“This order further emphasizes the strength of our business product portfolio, the diversity of which is truly appreci-

ated by our customers,” said Bob Horner, senior vice president, sales, of Bombardier Business Aircraft. “We are delight-ed to further strengthen our longstanding relationship with Jet Air.” –J.W.

VIP Hercules for MAZ & Al SalamuContinued from page 1

MAZ Group chairman Mohammed Bin Hamad Al-Zeer (left) has agreed to a major new partnership with Al Salam president and CEO Mohammed Nur Fallatah.

a smile a day keeps the recession at bay

The global business aviation community hasn’t had too much to smile about these past couple of years, but a vibrant show like MEBA can work wonders on morale, as these upbeat visitors seem to have discovered.� n

We’ll be backJetEx CEO Adel Mardini (left) can’t get enough of show business. He’s the first exhibitor to sign up for the next Dubai Air Show in 2011 and also for MEBA 2012, to the delight of F&E account manager Helen McGhie.


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Cessna sees the light as jet market picks upby Robert P. Mark

Despite recent industry fore-casts that call for 2011 to look much like 2010, Mark Paolucci, Cessna Aircraft’s new senior vice president of sales and mar-keting, said at the company’s MEBA press conference yester-day, “We are seeing increased activity in new and used aircraft sales. That’s a much better sign than this time last year. We are seeing light at the end of the tun-nel.” The U.S. manufacturer is, during the downturn, continuing

to invest much of its revenue in new product developments and service offerings to prepare for increased sales in the future.

“We’ve seen steady growth in the midsize-cabin sector in this region with aircraft like the Cita-tion Sovereign and XLS, even when the market has really been dominated by large-cabin air-craft,” added Cessna’s interna-tional sales vice president Trevor Esling. The Sovereign carries as many as eight passengers plus two pilots over distances of up

to 3,000 nm at speeds of up to 458 knots.

“There is much mileage left in the Sovereign in key territo-ries here in Middle East such as in Saudi Arabia and the UAE,” said Esling. “Egypt, in fact, is now one of our largest Sover-eign markets outside the U.S. with 14 aircraft. We’re still deliv-ering aircraft to Egypt, as well as to parts of North Africa, like Morocco, Algeria, Libya and Tunisia.”

When the discussion turned to the new Citation Ten, Esling said there are currently six or seven of the current model Cita-tion X (its designation will soon change from the numerical X to an alphabetical version Ten) spread around between Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia, with several unconfirmed orders for the new version of the world’s fastest certified business jet.

The Citation Ten–expected to begin deliveries in 2014–features standard winglets (optional on

the X), improved engine thrust, a front cabin stretch of 15 inches and a new interior. The cabin will also feature a highly integrated cabin management system, and the cockpit will sport a Garmin 5000 three-tube flight deck to replace the current Honeywell version. The Citation Ten will offer unrestricted climbs direct to FL450, which increases the aircraft’s range to about 3,300 nm. Against the traditional headwind, the Citation Ten can reach London from Riyadh, but not quite make London from Dubai without a stop.

“This area [the Middle East] will continue to grow in impor-tance,” said Esling. “We even-tually expect to see some trickle down from large- and midsize cabin aircraft to the light jets, although no one has quite yet realized aircraft like the Mustang and CJ could offer tremendous value for transportation around the GCC. Over the next two to five years though, we still expect the mainstay of our sales leaders to be the new Citation Ten, the Sovereign and the XLS+.”

One country in the region that Cessna is watching closely is Iraq. “If you talk to opera-tors here, aircraft continue to be a huge draw to support the Iraqi oil business from all over the world,” Esling added. “Arab Wings has seen a significant increase in movements into and out of Iraq that has caused them to accept additional aircraft.”

Cessna regularly surveys the business climate for trends. “Some of the countries in this region are already pretty well advanced economically com-pared with the U.S. and Europe--Saudi Arabia, Qatar and even Egypt, for instance. Econom-ically, individuals and compa-nies here have more room for optimism and therefore more reason to buy an aircraft, than if they operated from, say, Greece or Portugal,” according to the airframer. o


Cessna’s Mark Paolucci (left) and Trevor Esling told the media here that their company is continuing to invest much of its revenue in new product developments and service offerings to prepare for increased sales in the future.

z UAE’s Fujairah and India’s Cochin Airports AllyFujairah International Airport and Cochin International Airport

on India’s west coast yesterday forged a new alliance. The agreement was signed here at the MEBA show by Fujairah’s general manager, Dr. Khaled Al Mazouri, and his Cochin counterpart, Dr. C.G. Krishnadas Nair. The accord brings the two airports together to begin developing new passenger and cargo flights. It also opens the door to sharing of training resources and manpower development. “We have been very keen to explore the UAE market because of the large Kerala expatriate population here, as well as the strategic location of the UAE as a trade hub,” Dr. Nair said.

z Titan Aviation Gets Cayman CAMO ApprovalDubai-based Titan Aviation (Stand C719), a provider of aircraft

management, charter and sales, has been approved by the Cayman Civil Aviation Authority as a Continuous Airworthiness Maintenance Organization (CAMO). The approval allows Titan to perform maintenance on aircraft of Cayman registry.

Titan operates a fleet of aircraft registered in the Cayman Islands on the behalf of the owners who reside in India and the Middle East. Titan is also seeking additional CAMO approval to manage complete flight operations of its Cayman registered fleet.

“This is crucial for us since we are very keen to ensure that our aircraft owners are always protected and fly in aircraft maintained to the highest safety standards,” said Titan’s technical coordinator and airworthiness manager Javed Ahmed.

Titan is also talking with operators of a Lineage 1000, a Legacy 600 and a Gulfstream 200 about future management services.

z Emirates-CAE To Train Gainjet Large-Cabin PilotsEmirates-CAE Flight Training (ECFT, Stand C615) announced

yesterday that it signed a contract with Athens-based Gainjet Aviation to provide Gulfstream G450 and G550 and Bombardier Global Express pilot training at the training provider’s Dubai facility. Gainjet pilots also train at Embraer-CAE Training Services in Burgess Hill, UK, for the Embraer Phenom 100 and CAE Northeast Training Center in Morristown, New Jersey, for the Gulfstream G200. “We have been very impressed with the safety-enhancing simulation technology that CAE brings to the training suite,” said Gainjet president Ramsey Shaban, “and ECFT's willingness to adapt to Gainjet's training requirements and crew schedules.”

z HMM Aviation Deploying Sagem’s FOQAHMM Aviation will deploy Sagem’s C-FOQA (corporate-

flight operational quality assurance) system in the Middle East market under a letter of intent signed at the MEBA show. The Sagem C-FOQA system delivers flight analysis data to airplane and helicopter operators using an Apple iPad application. The iPad app is a new feature of Sagem’s enhanced global data management services product, which helps operators improve efficiency by helping them analyze flight operations data. Sagem also offers a MOQA (maintenance operation quality assurance) system for fleet maintenance management.

news clips

Cochin International Airport general manager Dr. C.G. Krishnadas Nair (right) signs an agreement here at the MEBA show with his counterpart from Fujairah International Airport, Dr. Khaled Al Mazouri.

Cessna has seen steady growth in the midsize-cabin sector in this region with aircraft like the Citation Sovereign and XLS (foreground).

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Hadid looking even further eastwardby Matt Thurber

Hadid International Services (Stand C246) “can be considered a pioneer in its field. We had no competition for 20 years,” com-pany vice CEO Rasoul Taljo, told AIN here at MEBA. The flight-handling firm, headquartered in Damascus, Syria, was founded in 1981 by Baha Hadid, who saw an opportunity to develop an aviation services company with a level of customer care that was not available from other provid-ers. Next year, it will celebrate its 30th year in the business.

In 2000 Hadid opened an of-fice in Dubai, which is now the company’s main aviation head-quarters, employing 150 peo-ple. Another 100 employees are located in its other branches around the world, including Da-mascus, Moscow, Karachi, Teh-ran, Tripoli, Algiers, Hamburg, London and San Francisco.

Business aviation in the Mid-dle East region is growing again,

Taljo said, after recovering in mid-2009. This year Hadid’s busi-ness doubled over 2009. “This is a good indicator that we are past the financial crisis,” he said.

For its next 30 years, Hadid will continue looking for new locations to serve, and plans call for a push into the Far East market–spe-cifically, Malaysia and China–and eventually South America.

“I think we have a lot of opportunities,” Taljo said. “Now we’re grow-ing to cover all corners of the world.” And while competition in the flight-han-dling market has grown rapidly during the past 10 years, “com-petition gives you the chance to improve yourself,” he said.

Although Hadid has its own sales representatives in many countries, it extends its reach with handling agents based all over

the world. “We try to find the best solution for the client,” Taljo said. “We give the best service at the best price.” This includes the company’s credit facility, which helps flight crews avoid carry-ing large amounts of cash to pay

for fuel, fees and ser-vices where credit cards aren’t accepted. Hadid also keeps costs down by helping operators avoid paying extra or hidden fees.

According to Tal-jo, Hadid is currently working with local au-thorities in Tripoli, Is-

lamabad and Karachi to obtain licenses to open operations in those locations.

A new service offered by Hadid is a fight-planning system that consolidates services rang-ing from planning to obtaining permits and arranging for fuel-ing and ground handling. o

Dassault targeting 2016 for super-midsize Falconby David Donald

Dassault (Chalet A14) is working steadily toward a cer-tification date of 2016 for its much-anticipated super-mid-size (SMS) Falcon business jet, Olivier Villa, Dassault’s senior vice president civil aircraft, told AIN here at MEBA. Launched in January 2008, the twin-engine SMS is intended to be the suc-cessor to the out-of-production three-engine Falcon 50.

Initially the Rolls-Royce RB282 turbofan was chosen to power the SMS but that decision was reversed last year, reopening the competition. The Silvercrest engine being developed by France’s Snecma group is a likely frontrunner for the long-awaited powerplant selection.

Although the program is ramping up to full-speed devel-opment, Villa remained coy about SMS details and industry partners. He said Dassault will likely not release much further information about the project for two to three years. To date, wind-tunnel tests have been completed for the basic shape and the outer mold line is fixed.

Currently the company has around 250 personnel work-ing on the SMS at its design

office in the Paris area, a num-ber that will double between now and early next year as designers from Dassault’s partners join the team. By the end of 2011, the joint team will establish the basic design, after which the constit-uent groups will return to their own design offices to complete detailed work.

SMS is being designed on a new system that significantly reduces risks in the design and development process. Dassault has been at the forefront of computer-aided design since the creation of its Catia soft-ware in the late 1970s. The company’s most recent model, the Falcon 7X, was designed using a highly advanced prod-uct lifecycle management (PLM) system that created a digital mockup of the aircraft on a single database.

All designers shared the same database, which outputs information in different presen-tations tailored to the needs of the user. According to Villa, the system allowed the design to be “optimized for easy production and easy maintenance, and at the same time ensured that we met certification requirements.”

For the SMS, Dassault engi-neers are using a more advanced PLM. Whereas the 7X data-base represented the mechani-cal components of the aircraft, the SMS system now integrates the aircraft systems as well. The complete database is refreshed every day, and is Web-based to allow remote access.

Aircraft design follows what Villa describes as a “V-shaped” pattern. “You start with the high-level requirements,” he said, “then proceed down through functions and architecture to the component level. Then you are into the upward validation phase, passing back up through lab tests, bench tests, flight tests and then certification.

“Traditionally,” he contin-ued, “if you missed something on the way down you will only find it at the top of the V, at flight-test stage. It’s then diffi-cult and expensive to fix.”

Dassault’s design tool pro-vides for simulation at all levels

of the process, with the aim of eliminating these risks at the design stage. For instance, a task can be modeled in the data-base, allowing the effects of the action on all areas of the aircraft

and its system to be calculated. A wrong-diameter pipe for the fuel transfer system, for exam-ple, will show up, allowing rec-tification long before the system reaches the hardware stage. o

A new super-midsize Falcon, smaller than the large-cabin Falcon 7X shown here, will join the Dassault business jet family in about six years. It is intended to succeed the out-of-production Falcon 50.

Supersonic Business Jet Coming No Time Soon, Says Dassault

Not today, and not tomorrow, but maybe someday. That is Dassault’s view of the supersonic business jet, said Olivier Villa, Dassault’s senior v-p civil air-craft, here at MEBA.

Company market analysis shows that, based on current technology, a su-personic business jet (SSBJ) that is capable of Mach 1.6 would need to have a range of at least 4,500 nm and a cabin size at least as big as that of the Fal-con 7X to be viable in the marketplace. That, based on current technology, im-plies an aircraft of well over 100,000 pounds mtow, and which would have a carbon footprint around four to five times that of a subsonic aircraft.

While that is not practical from a business sense any time soon, Dassault rec-ognizes that an SSBJ remains a desirable goal, and continues to perform low-level work. Most is aimed at conceptual and technological studies into areas that could bear fruit should an SSBJ become a realistic proposition at some point. –D.D.

Five years oF success

Jet Aviation yesterday marked the fifth anniversary of its FBO and maintenance facility in Dubai. Khalid Almullah, a director of the Swiss-based company’s local partner Almullah Business Group, was among those saluting the milestone at a gathering of customers and business associates at the Dubai Creek Golf Club.


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AFI KLM offers bizjet completion, mod services by Ian Goold

A leading European airliner maintenance group has pooled its expertise in several disci-plines to offer outfitting and maintenance for private, cor-porate and government aircraft in a single package. Air France Industries KLM Engineering & Maintenance (AFI KLM) is here at the MEBA show (Stand C522) to promote its new VIP-JetSuite, which broadens its portfolio of VIP completion, cabin modification and quick-change services.

The company claims to pro-vide a comprehensive service covering all aspects of VIP air-craft operation, from comple-tion to overhauls, including cabin refurbishment, fuselage “beauty care” and painting. It also has extensive credentials in providing mainstream mainte-nance, repair and overhaul sup-port for a variety of Airbus and Boeing models.

Over the past 15 years, the combined engineering opera-tions of the merged Air France/KLM carrier (AFI KLM) have had extensive experience in the completion and modi-fication of Airbus A310s and Airbus Corporate Jetliners, as well as Boeing 747s for govern-ment, head of state and private operators in the Middle East, North Africa and Europe. It also has performed head-of-state cabin reconfiguration of Airbus A300s and A340s and Aerospatiale/BAC Concordes.

With VIPJetSuite, the company offers cabin design and refur-bishment, as well as modular solutions, in addition to per-forming normal maintenance and overhaul services.

For new aircraft, AFI KLM provides design, engineering, procurement and supply chain management services. Among the cabin interior installations, it offers crew rest areas (with seats and/or foldable bunks and tables), communications centers (with workstations and seats), conference rooms, private meet-ing and dining rooms, bedrooms and bathrooms (with showers), passenger accommodation and hallway reception areas.

AFI KLM modifications for in-service aircraft range from interior reconfiguration to a complete cabin makeover. To meet presidential require-ments or to prepare an aircraft for a special role, the group offers a VIP quick-change kit that allows cabins to be reconfigured in 12 to 48 hours and the process reversed in the same amount of time.

The company, a licensed Boeing Business Jets comple-tion center, said this flexibil-ity in cabin reconfiguration means a single aircraft can fill multiple roles–from conven-tional passenger transport to VIP service–without the need for governments, companies or individuals to acquire and sup-port dedicated aircraft. o


close those deals

With MEBA drawing to a close, today is the last day to examine the aeronautical wares and work out deals. And, although signs point to a business aviation bounceback, we will probably know for sure only by the time of the next MEBA show in 2012. In the meantime, transactions are continuing apace.

OCRA Aerospace sells refurbed Dornier 328Jet

OCRA Aerospace (Stand E225) has announced the sale of a Dornier 328Jet to an undis-closed customer in Southeast Asia. The aircraft, which is on static display here at MEBA, has been sold on behalf of Texas-based Comtran, which outfitted the aircraft with its luxury Revolution 12-passen-ger interior. The sticker price was $7.55 million. Comtran has nine more 328s available for

conversion to VVIP standards, the process taking around five to six months per aircraft.

OCRA Aerospace is exhib-iting at MEBA for the first time, although the company has been providing aviation ser-vices since 1975. Its headquar-ters are in the Isle of Man, UK, and an aircraft sales and con-sultancy team has been recently established in Ras Al Khaimah, UAE. The company has 20

offices worldwide, providing a range of bespoke services. The acquisition and disposal of aircraft draws on the compa-ny’s long experience and wide-reaching networks to identify options that fit the buyer’s or seller’s needs. OCRA can arrange prepurchase appraisals.

Beyond sales and consul-tancy, OCRA provides pro-fessional aviation services that include aircraft registra-tion, offshore company forma-tion, handling import/export requirements, hangar and FBO design and operation, bespoke aircraft charter and a wealth of other services. –J.W.

Industry recovery delayed to 2012

A study released on Monday by Forecast Inter-national projects that the decline in business jet production, which began in 2008, will continue through 2011. Looking ahead, “The Market for Business Jet Aircraft,” predicts a total of 11,437 business jets with an estimated value of $217.5 bil-lion will be produced from 2010 through 2019.

“The business jet market is not yet in recov-ery, but the worst of the market downturn is over,” said Raymond Jaworowski, senior aero-space analyst at U.S.-based Forecast Interna-tional. “Order intake remains sluggish, but the massive wave of order cancellations and delivery

deferrals experienced in late 2008 and much of 2009 has receded. The market is no longer in freefall.”

According to the company, slack demand from fractional programs, which fueled a significant percentage of sales before the downturn, is a major factor behind the downturn in orders. “The focus of many fractional providers is on improving oper-ations, reducing costs, and consolidating aircraft fleets,” Jaworowski said.

Light and midsize aircraft have been more affected by the order decline than the large-cabin and long-range segments of the market, accord-ing to the forecast. Going forward, the forecast predicts the top three manufacturers in unit pro-duction during the next decade will be Cessna, Embraer and Bombardier, while Gulfstream, Bombardier and Dassault will lead the market in terms of monetary value of sales. –J.W.

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An AFI KLM representative talks to an attendee about the company’s new VIP JetSuite, which broadens its portfolio of VIP completion, cabin modification and quick-change services.The company claims to provide a comprehensive service.

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Gulf airlines pioneering private jet operations by Bernard Fitzsimons

What can seem like a radi-cal departure from convention in other parts of the world may be simple logic in the Gulf region: by establishing corporate jet oper-ations, Qatar Airways and Saudi Arabian Airlines (see box) are just responding to customer demand.

Announcing the formation of Qatar Executive (Stand E215) at the Paris Airshow in June 2009, Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker pointed to statistics show-ing that the corporate market in the Middle East has grown at an average of 13 percent a year since 2000, with the number of corpo-rate jets based in the Middle East more than doubling from 200 at the beginning of the century to 450 just eight years later.

“Despite the current global economic climate, there remains a strong need for the corporate executive to conduct face to face business meetings in the short-est possible time, so travel is still important, as is time manage-ment,” he said, citing the pos-sibility of flying from Doha to Bahrain for a breakfast meeting, continuing to Dubai for lunch and on to Abu Dhabi for an early evening meeting before return-ing to Doha in time for dinner. “The corporate jet makes all this possible with a hassle-free expe-rience,” he said.

Individual wealth in the Gulf region was expected to increase by more than 50 percent between 2008 and 2012, rising from $2.1 trillion to $3.8 trillion. The cor-porate market, already estimated to be worth up to $700 million a year, was expected to grow in tan-dem at a rate of 15 to 20 percent. “There is a clear opportunity for Qatar Airways to capitalize on this trend,” said Al Baker.

“We know that the Middle East is underserved in the cor-porate aircraft segment,” added Qatar Executive senior vice presi-dent Captain Ted Button. “Utiliz-ing the five-star service of Qatar Airways as a model to build a new corporate jet venture is, we believe, the right way forward to capitalize on this key market.” Customers use the VIP terminal at Doha International Airport for arrivals and departures.

Qatar Executive started oper-ations with a single eight-seat Bombardier Challenger 300, adding a pair of 11-seat Chal-lenger 605s within days of the Paris announcement. The opera-tion would enable the corporate traveler to book an aircraft as lit-tle as four hours before departure and check in 10 minutes before takeoff, Al Baker said. “The per-sonal onboard attention, com-fort, fine dining and speed at which the aircraft flies ensure the experience is both rewarding and memorable,” he said.

The Challenger 605s are capa-ble of flying for up to nine hours to destinations within 4,000 nm in Europe, Africa and Asia. By the time of the Bahrain International Airshow in January, Al Baker was reporting a steady stream of bookings and the establishment of a strong client base. Another factor contributing to the growth of corporate aviation in the Gulf is the growing number of sec-ondary airports in less popu-lated areas, which makes travel to remote areas much easier and they are particularly attractive to oil and gas companies.

In July this year Al Baker trav-eled to the Farnborough airshow in the UK to sign for two 13-seat Bombardier Global 5000s. With

a range of up to 5,200 nm they are capable of flying nonstop from Doha to Hong Kong, as well as anywhere in Europe, and can reach North America with a

fuel stop in Europe.The aircraft would be

equipped with high-speed wire-less Internet and e-mail, surround sound and personal TV screens,

Al Baker said. “Corporate jets complete the travel arrangements of people with deep pockets,” he said. “There are a lot of them in our region.” o

Saudia BolSterS Private Fleet

Qatar Executive’s fleet consists of Bombardier Challenger 300s and 605s, and earlier this year the operator ordered a pair of the larger Global 5000. Saudia Private Aviation currently is mixing its fleet between Hawker 400XPs and Dassault Falcon 7Xs.

The interiors of Qatar Executive’s Challengers evoke the five-star service of parent Qatar Airways. Customers use the VIP terminal at Doha International Airport.

The opportunity for “travel in record-breaking time” along with 24/7 service is the promise of Saudia Private Aviation (SPA, Chalet A3), and the Saudi Ara-bian Airlines subsidiary has certainly been tooling up for the task over the last two years.

Here at the last MEBA show in 2008 Saudia signed for six midsize Hawker 400XPs, the model billed by manufacturer Hawker Beechcraft as the fastest light jet in its class. The last pair of Hawkers was delivered in Jeddah at the beginning of May; seating up to nine passengers, they can cruise at up to 450 knots.

Another deal sealed here in Dubai, this time at the

2007 Dubai Airshow, covered the sale of four Dassault Falcon 7Xs, with options for a further three. The or-der was attributed at the time simply to “a customer in Saudi Arabia,” but at the European Business Aviation Conference and Exhibition in Geneva in May, Dassault Falcon delivered the first of four Falcon 7X trijets to SPA.

The airplane was the 75th 7X that Dassault has de-livered, and the first to a customer in Saudi Arabia. Its range of 5,950 nm makes it capable of nonstop flights on routes such as New York to Riyadh, Dubai to To-kyo and Rio de Janeiro to Jeddah. “The Falcon 7X was carefully chosen out of many options because of its ex-cellent technical specifications and performance,” said Wajdi Abdullah Al-Idrissi, the airline’s vice president royal and VIP affairs and head of SPA. “It is a unique plane that can fly nonstop for more than 11 hours and

does not require a long runway, which saves valuable time by being able to land at [less trafficked] airports.” It also conforms to the high taste of their royal and VIP clients, he said.

“Though SPA was carved out of Saudi Arabian Airlines only last year,” Al-Idrissi added, “our long experience spans more than 60 years in VIP aircraft chartering, leasing, management and consultation, as well as ground handling.” The operator is the succes-sor to Saudia Special Flight Services.

In addition to offering speed and range, SPA provides ample capacity in private aircraft able to

carry up to 400 passengers. Al-Idrissi said in June that the company’s launch followed thorough market studies showing constant rising demand for private aviation.

There are already 50 Falcons based in this region and Dassault expects the number to in-crease by 50 percent over the next three years. The rapid growth of the local fleet prompted the manufacturer to establish a distribution center in Dubai in 2008 to expedite and sim-plify the delivery process of Falcon spares. The center holds an inventory worth $1.5 million.

The SPA deal has led to the creation of a second regional support facility, with the ap-pointment of SPA Engineering & Mainte-nance as a line service center for the Falcon 900 and 7X. Jet Aviation Dubai has been an authorized service center for the Falcon 900

and 2000 since 2006.An FAA-certified repair station, SPA E&M has a

43,000-sq-ft facility in Jeddah. Capabilities include a corrosion prevention and control program, aging air-craft inspections, landing-gear repair and replacement and paint services. It also houses sheet metal, tire and battery servicing shops.

“Saudia Private Aviation Engineering and Maintenance has a sterling reputation devel-oped from decades of experience in the main-tenance arena and delivering the highest level of service,” said Dassault Falcon president and CEO John Rosanvallon. “Its appointment as an authorized service center will be of great benefit not only to our expanding fleet in the region, but also to transient operators traveling to Europe, Asia and Africa.” –B.J.F.

At this year’s EBACE show in Geneva, the first of four Falcon 7Xs was delivered to Saudia Private Aviation, represented by Khalid Almolhim, director general Saudi Arabian Airlines (left), seen here with John Rosanvallon, president and CEO Dassault Falcon Jet.


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ABACE rejoins bizav show circuitThe Asian Business Avia-

tion Conference & Exhibition (ABACE) will rejoin the business aviation show circuit February 28 to March 1, 2012, at Hongq-iao Airport in Shanghai, China. ABACE had been held from 2004 through 2007, but the 2009 show was canceled due to the economic downturn. As before, the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) and the Asian Business Aviation Associa-tion (AsBAA) will host the event.

ABACE 2012 will be held at the Shanghai Hawker Pacific Business Aviation Center, a new facility that is a joint ven-ture between Shanghai Airport Authority and Hawker Pacific. Exhibitors are to display their services and products inside the facility’s 4,000-square-meter han-gar, while a static display of about 50 aircraft is expected to fill the ramp next to the hangar. Another key feature of the ABACE show will be on-site educational ses-sions focused on business and regulatory issues in the Asia busi-ness aviation marketplace.

NBAA Strong SupporterNBAA associate members

and advisory council mem-bers expressed a strong inter-est in holding a show in Asia, said Kathleen Blouin, NBAA senior vice president, conven-tions, seminars and forums, at the association’s MEBA stand (E158). “They feel the market is really starting to pop,” she said.

Jason Liao was recently appointed as NBAA’s chief repre-sentative in the region and he also serves as vice chairman of the AsBAA. Liao will play a key role in promoting and developing the ABACE show and encouraging “government officials to develop aviation-friendly regulations, pur-sue reasonable access rules and work to harmonize industry reg-ulations across Asian countries,” according to the NBAA.

At the Business Aviation Safety Seminar-Asia held in Sin-gapore last month, Liao high-lighted how different regulatory climates affect safety. “A patch-work of safety requirements across a geographic region can contribute to a reduction of safety as operators attempt to com-ply with myriad rules and proce-dures across states,” he said. “We encourage states, as much as pos-sible, to coordinate safety stan-dards that reflect a harmonized approach to airspace use, airport access and safety oversight.”

Added Doug Carr, NBAA’s

vice president for safety and reg-ulation, “Every sector of busi-ness aviation recognizes the future growth potential growth that Asia has, from the opera-tors, to the manufacturers, to the suppliers. It makes sense for

NBAA and our safety partners to get in early to begin highlight-ing business aviation’s safety record, so that when operations do start increasing, we’ve got a good track record that we can build on with future regulators

and state safety officials.”“When NBAA and AsBAA

hosted the first ABACE show in Shanghai in 2004, much of the world questioned the potential for business aviation in Asia,” said NBAA president and CEO Ed Bolen. “However, those early shows yielded results by increasing awareness about our industry. We are returning to

Shanghai far ahead of where we started, but with still much to accomplish; nevertheless, it is now clear to everyone that there is tremendous potential for busi-ness aviation in Asia.”

Business aviation activity in China will also be highlighted at the Hainan Rendez-Vous 2011, which is scheduled April 1 to 4 at Sanya Airport. –M.T.


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The inauguration in June of Dubai World Central’s Al Maktoum International Air-port marked the completion of the project’s Phase 1 and another significant milestone in Dubai’s pursuit of air trans-port preeminence.

HH Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, chairman of Dubai Aviation City Corpo-ration, said the event served as “a timely reminder to regional and international stakehold-ers” of the strength of Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed’s vision. And there is no denying that Dubai World Central is a heroic project even by Dubai’s standards, a 54-square-mile aer-otropolis of industry, commerce, recreation and human habita-tion centered on the world’s big-gest airport.

Intended to support the emir-ate’s aviation, tourism and logis-tics requirements through 2050 and beyond, and expected to cost more than $32 billion by the time it is complete in the mid-2020s, DWC rings the airport with a series of clustered zones: • Logistics City (big enough to

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• Commercial City (850 towers of up to 45 floors providing employment for 225,000 peo-ple and housing for 4.5 million residents),

• Residential City (accommo-dation for 240,000 residents in luxury apartment blocks up to 10 floors high and a workforce of 20,000),

• Golf City (three 18-hole courses, hotels and 2,500 free-hold homes),

• the Dubai Trade Center Jebel Ali (residential and mixed-use development plus a 50-acre exhibition precinct) and

• Aviation City.Located between the airport

and Golf City on the south side of the development, Avi-ation City will be the home of corporate aviation, with a heli-port, executive jet center and extensive general aviation sup-port facilities. It will also host a maintenance, repair and over-haul center (the world’s biggest, naturally), aerospace manufac-turing and associated industries, aviation support services, design and consultancy, research and development, a zone for aviation training and education, and the associated offices and commer-cial premises. And, of course, it includes a dedicated airshow site complete with exhibition halls, static display ramp, parking and dedicated access roads.

The airport itself will have five 14,750-foot runways rather than the six originally planned, but is still designed to be the world’s biggest, with four terminals han-dling an ultimate capacity of 160 million passengers. The main ter-minal is scheduled to have an underground baggage handling system capable of handling 240 million bags each year, a daily average of more than 650,000.

Skyrocketing NumbersAlthough Emirates earlier this

year said it would not move to the new airport until after 2022 rather than in the 2018-2020 time frame targeted initially, Dubai Airports’ CEO Paul Griffiths remains adamant that the new airport is needed. Dubai Interna-tional currently has capacity for 2.5 million metric tons of cargo, he said at the opening, but vol-umes are expected to reach three million metric tons by 2015. “On the passenger side we expect to see numbers skyrocket from the 41 million that passed through Dubai International in 2009 to 98 million by 2020 and 150 mil-lion by 2030,” he said.

Cargo operators are the

airport’s first users, though. So far, 19 cargo airlines have signed up to use the facility, with the single runway opened in June and a cargo terminal capable of handling 250,000 metric tons of freight. But general aviation–which in Dubai means mainly private jets–will certainly be provided for.

“General aviation is an important part of our business,” said a spokesman for Dubai Air-ports. “As congestion increases at Dubai International we will be able to offer general aviation an attractive alternative. DWC is located conveniently to take advantage of Dubai and Abu Dhabi business.”

Initially, general aviation operations at DWC will be ser-viced through a dedicated area of the passenger terminal. It will provide a limousine drop off, dedicated processing of passengers, lounges and airside limousine pickup to transport passengers to the aircraft side. An area of the ramp will be set aside for general aviation and helicopter operations.

Aviation City will service gen-eral aviation in the longer term, though that development is at least two years away. The stated aim of the planned executive jet center is to compete with the industry’s best dedicated busi-ness aviation hubs, namely Van Nuys in California, Teterboro in New York, Le Bourget in France and Farnborough in the UK.

But there continues to be uncertainty over the precise time-line for the further development of Al Maktoum. Several major business aviation service compa-nies have provisionally booked space at the new airport but for the time being are continuing to operate at Dubai International.

“The development of the general aviation terminal does appear to have slowed down,”

said Mike Berry, managing direc-tor of ExecuJet Middle East. “This now seems to be happen-ing in two phases with phase one focusing on maintenance facili-ties, followed by the general avia-tion terminal in phase two. There is no definitive timeline and we don’t expect to be able to move there before early 2013.”

Rising airline traffic at Dubai International has squeezed capacity to the extent that in

busy period business aircraft operators can find it hard to get landing permits. Last month there were times when operators found they couldn’t get permits to keep aircraft on the ground there for more than 24 hours. But despite this, Michael Rucker, senior vice president of Jet Avi-ation’s Dubai operation, sees no prospect of an early business avi-ation exodus to Al Maktoum.

Even the gargantuan DWC project, meanwhile, is just one part of a still bigger picture, the 77-square-mile Dubai Logistics Corridor. Inaugurated in Octo-ber, the corridor links Jebel Ali Port and Free Zone with the DWC development to form a multimodal logistics platform. Benefits should include improve-ments in the flow of sea-to-air cargo by eliminating the pro-cesses of exit and entry from one zone to another, and potentially the elimination of double cus-toms’ inspection, making it pos-sible to transfer a shipment from a vessel in the port to an airplane on the ramp in as little as four hours. A bonded road between the airport and the free zone and port has helped attract cargo operators to the new facility. o


HH Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum (left) joins local airport and aviation officials, including Dubai Airports CEO Paul Griffiths (dark suit) for the official opening.

DWC hits pause on march to global hub hegemonyby Bernard Fitzsimons

Happy Design brings innovation to interiors

Happy Design Studio is forging a reputation for inno-vative and exciting aircraft paint schemes, highlighted by its recent win in a compe-tition to design a new livery for the single-prop TBM 850 six-seater.

The contest was launched in July by the TBM 850’s manu-facturer, Daher-Socata, to cre-ate a new paint scheme to be introduced for 2011 production aircraft in celebration of the company’s 100th anniversary.

Happy Design Studio, and

its owner/designer, Didier Wolff, scooped the prize in the face of some 40 competing designs. The new scheme will be available in 20 color options and will be unveiled officially in February.

The small French business has attracted significant inter-est from many quarters, espe-cially here in the Middle East. The company is the official partner for design at the Cus-tom Jet Show, which was held last month at Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, as part of the Avex inter-national airshow. –D.D.

Operations at Dubai’s Al Maktoum International Airport currently are limited to air freight carriers, but passenger traffic traffic–including business aviation–is due to follow.

Join us for the second Bahrain International Airshow at the Sakhir Air Base in the Kingdom of Bahrain. This global aviation event offers a proven platform

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OEMs analyze bizjet maintenance needs in ME by Ian Goold

Boeing and Gulfstream each have more than 100 business jets flying in the Middle East, while a majority of the global fleet of 60 Airbus VIP/govern-ment widebodies operate in the region. Also based here are a “large portion” of the more than 110 narrowbody A318 Elites, A319 Corporate Jets (ACJs) and A320 Prestiges, according to Airbus exec-utive- and private-aviation head of cus-tomer support Fabrice Hamel.

Boeing claims its Boeing Business Jets (BBJs) account for “well over half” of the region’s large single- and twin-aisle aircraft in VIP service. “Half of our current order backlog is twin-aisle, and most of those airplanes are destined for the Middle East market,” said BBJ president Steve Taylor.

The local Gulfstream fleet is said to have increased by 100 percent in 10 years and accounts for 37 percent of the Mid-dle East and Africa market, including 49 percent of the large-cabin aircraft. A sig-nificant number of the 200 Gulfstream 650s on order are bound for the region. A decade ago, about 20 percent of its fleet was operating outside the U.S., a number now approaching 30 percent.

Bombardier has 75 aircraft in the Mid-dle East (including Turkey), which gives it a claimed 19-percent market share, accord-ing to aircraft service centers (ASCs) pres-ident Mike McQuay. Cessna supports about 60 Citations in the Arabian Gulf region, which will be very dynamic in the near future, according to customer service senior vice president Brad Thress.

Dassault’s current Middle East fleet comprises about 60 aircraft and is

expected to grow by about 30 percent during 2011-12. Earlier this year, Saudi Private Aviation received the 75th Falcon 7X, the first of four for which it is sched-uled to take delivery.

Embraer reported last month that it expects to have more than 23 Legacy and six Lineage business jets in the Middle East by year-end, with the Phenom 100 and 300 due to arrive soon. And Hawker Beechcraft claims to have been “very focused” on the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region.

The many MRO plans and invest-ments announced at MEBA 2008 and during the following two years reflect the drive to meet the demand for business avi-ation maintenance and fixed-base opera-tions in the region.

Airbus revealed it has provided no spe-cific local MRO capacity for customers; rather, it works with approved outfitters, some of which–such as Jet Aviation and Lufthansa Technik–operate service centers in many parts of the world, said customer support executive Hamel. In practice, however, ACJ customers typically entrust heavy maintenance to their cabin outfit-ters, saving downtime through simultane-ous cabin, airframe and engine work.

BBJ’s list of qualified interior com-pletion/refurbishment and light/heavy maintenance centers includes Alsalam Aircraft in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and Jet Aviation here in Dubai.

The local Bombardier fleet is sup-ported by ExecuJet Aviation, a fully authorized service facility located in the Dubai International Airport free zone, as well as by Air Works in Mumbai, India–both designated Challenger 300/605 and Global Express AOG/line-maintenance facilities. Other centers in Europe and Asia Pacific are available to customers from the Arab world.

Two years ago Cessna appointed Wal-len Aviation in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, an authorized service center. It supports 15 Citation variants and is to be joined in early 2011 by Smart Aviation in Cairo, Egypt, where a Citation technician is based.

Saudi Private Aviation’s (SPA) engi-neering and maintenance division in Jeddah has joined Jet Aviation Dubai as a Dassault Falcon authorized service center, expanding the local network. As

the business aviation unit of flagcarrier Saudi Arabian Airlines, SPA is approved for Falcon 7X and 900B work, while Jet Aviation Dubai covers Falcon 7Xs, 900s and 2000s. The service center has more than 35 years’ experience in executive air-craft maintenance and inspection. “Its appointment will be of great benefit to our expanding [Middle East] fleet and to transient operators,” said Dassault Fal-con president John Rosanvallon. The company holds some $1.4 million worth of spares and tooling in Dubai, where Dassault set up a sales office in 2008.

Embraer has two local authorized ser-vice centers for warranty and mainte-nance services: Falcon Aviation Services in Abu Dhabi and ExecuJet in Dubai.

Jet Aviation, a sister company of Gulfstream, operates a full-service main-tenance facility in Dubai, where the OEM maintains a parts warehouse. It bases field service representatives in Bahrain, Dubai and Jordan, and plans to locate another in Jeddah. All global Gulfstream facilities and personnel are available to support Middle East customers.

Hawker Beechcraft has appointed ExecuJet Dubai a Hawker authorized service center. Last year, the U.S. manu-facturer authorized Arabasco in Jeddah as a Hawker 800 service center, its first alliance with such a facility in Saudi Ara-bia. Arabasco has said it hopes to add other models such as the Hawker 900XP to its approval.

The OEMs AIN interviewed said that since 2008 they have beefed up staffing and added more approved support agencies.

Airbus employs support managers in the Middle East, a team that has grown since 2008 to parallel the growing local number of ACJs operating here. The man-ufacturer’s support in the region includes technical people, spares stock and a CAE-operated training center in Dubai.

Recent Embraer developments in the region include ExecuJet’s appointment as an authorized service center and the establishment of a parts warehouse at

Jebel Ali Free Zone. Gulfstream reported it believes it has

gained support synergies in the Middle East and many other markets since par-ent General Dynamics acquired Jet Avia-tion around the time of MEBA 2008.

Hawker Beechcraft’s alliance with ExecuJet has been complemented by the recent appointment of Clive Prentice as Europe, Middle East and Africa cus-tomer support vice president. Since 2008, Hawker Beechcraft has made “signifi-cant” investments in parts for the Mid-dle East, where it “recently stocked and opened a facility in Dubai to service our customers,” a spokesman said.

Fleet growth is the main factor driving MRO developments in the Middle East, according to Hamel at Airbus. Almost all other manufacturers echo this theme. “The most significant factor driving [MRO devel-opments] will be the influx of new twin-aisle VIP airframes,” according to BBJ’s Taylor, who believes local airlines also will enter the market.

“We expect that the indigenous MRO capability being developed to support regional scheduled service operators will play an important part in supporting these [VIP twin-aisle] aircraft, but we also expect new opportunities to emerge in the region for VIP specialists,” said Taylor.

Bombardier’s McQuay identified cus-tomer requirements as the key consideration. “Our strategy is to provide optimal main-tenance capacity, while ensuring the high-est levels of quality,” he said. This includes adjusting maintenance supply to align with fleet growth and demographic shift.

Like Airbus, Cessna sees its “rapidly growing” Citation fleet driving an expan-sion of authorized support and stimulat-ing a review of growth alternative. Even if the fleet age is not an issue because most of the aircraft are “quite new,” Dassault is playing an active part in local MRO developments.

Gulfstream’s customer support includes a focus on high dispatch and air-craft availability rates. o


Technicians for Hawker Beechcraft Services work on an aircraft. A spokesman for the company said it has made significant investments in parts for the Middle East, where it recently opened a facility in Dubai.

Airbus operators can get MRO support from approved companies such as Jet Aviation and Lufthansa Technik.

Two years ago at MEBA 2008 when the backlog of business jet orders stood at some 700 aircraft, questions were already being asked as to whether manufacturers were doing enough to ensure adequate maintenance, repair and overhaul support for the fast growing Middle East fleet. At the time, HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed al Maktoum, president of Dubai’s Department of Civil Aviation, pointed to a time lag in the indus-try’s provision of required maintenance support, with many corporate aircraft in the region having to fly elsewhere even for routine work. “This is why I was pleased to hear so many companies expressing a commitment to providing MRO services. The planned major investment in local infrastructure over the next few years is both welcome and necessary,” he said.

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Middle East Fleets

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Pratt fans now online at PT6Nation.com

Pratt & Whitney Canada (Stand C414) has launched PT6 Nation.com, a new microsite for operators and aficionados of the legendary PT6 turbine engine and its many variants, which currently number 68.

Since 1964 more than 40,000 PT6s turboprop engines have been delivered, notching up 325 million flight hours, and today around 23,000 engines are in use on 14,000 fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft. As the engine of choice for many

helicopters, utility aircraft and trainers, it is no surprise that the PT6 is involved in many unusual air operations, and it has figured in many remark-able aviation stories.

Using social media such as Facebook, Twitter and You-Tube, PT6Nation provides a forum for those with an interest in the PT6 to discuss and share their experiences through sto-ries, photos and video. It also provides an informal means for P&WC to connect with the

many PT6 users and maintain-ers around the world, and to extend brand awareness beyond that community.

One of the latest stories on the Web site (posted by Ryan Densham) links to a YouTube video showing three skydivers jumping out of a PT6A-pow-ered de Havilland Twin Otter and maneuvering to a Pilatus Porter, also appropriately pow-ered by the PT6A, which is in a vertical descent. Fans of James Bond may recall 007 executing a similar skydive to a Pilatus Porter in the 1995 film “Gold-enEye.” Actor Pierce Brosnan played Bond, but an uncredited stunt double named B.J. Worth performed the skydive. –D.D.


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Winslow seeks ME life raft repair shop by James Wynbrandt

Winslow LifeRaft Co. of Lake Suzy, Florida (Stand C524), came to MEBA with one primary mission, said George Byer, the company’s vice pres-ident sales, “We need to locate a repair and overhaul facility in the Middle East” that can repair and service the company’s life rafts. Byer added, “A large num-ber of aircraft in the region have our life rafts,” which must be inspected and serviced periodi-cally to ensure they are ready for deployment in an emergency.

Ideally, Winslow wants to locate a Part 145 General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) approved facility in Abu Dhabi

that has or would hire an indi-vidual who already has experi-ence with emergency inflation systems and inflatable repairs. “We can’t teach them inflatable technology,” Byer said.

Winslow, which has been dis-playing its life rafts at trade shows in Dubai since the 2005 Dubai Air Show, also is using its time at MEBA to meet operators and aircraft owners from the region who have their life rafts on board.

The Middle East is noted for its arid conditions, so some poten-tial customers might question the need for an inflatable life raft. But Byer pointed out that “most busi-ness aircraft [based in the region]

fly all over the world, not just in the Middle East.” Moreover, a life raft can be a lifesaver in the desert, he said. “A life raft offers shelter in the desert because it has a canopy, and the yellow and orange colors make it a visible target. There’s also an emergency locator trans-mitter onboard, as well as water and survival gear.”

The rafts range in size from four- to 15-person capacity. Any aircraft certified for Part 125 operations (charter aircraft with a capacity for 20 or more pas-sengers) must carry at least two life rafts, he said. Current Win-slow clients in the region include Royal Jet and Amir Jet. o

Signature Flight evaluating Middle East for new FBOby Matt Thurber

FBO chain Signature Flight Support, with 103 facilities around the world, is interested in opening a Middle East FBO, said Steve Gulvin, regional vice president Europe and Middle East, “but we’ve decided con-ditions have to be right.” Signa-ture is exhibiting at MEBA for the third time and each time its presence here and at the biennial Dubai Airshow has grown.

Opening a Middle East FBO requires the right location and the right partner, Gulvin explained, and frequently one of those attri-butes is available but not both at the same time. “We really want to understand the mar-ket and [potential] partners before we do anything,” he said. Signature, which is part of the publicly listed BBA group, does have the resources to expand in the Middle East, he added.

As a first step, Signature (Stand E200) will place sales personnel in the area, not only to promote the

chain’s FBOs to business air-craft travelers, but also to build a relationship with local avi-ation authorities. At the local airport level, dynamics can change quickly, he said, and it’s important to choose the right partner, to ensure that airport licensing parameters are favor-able. It may not be necessary to build a huge high-end FBO, he said, because most passengers desire seamless service, moving from their aircraft into cars and not spending too much time in the FBO. o

Hawker Beechcraft delivered 34 percent of all new jets and 88 percent of all new turboprops in the Middle East during the past thee years. These MEBA visitors could be considering adding to that total.

Signature Flight Support is looking closely at expansion options in the region.

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another sale in the works?

A possible potential customer looks over a Learjet 60XR on the static display, a scene that is replicated daily here at MEBA. Perhaps he is asking about avionics options or mulling interior completions schemes.

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Bahrain gears up for second show by Charles Alcock

Business aviation companies have been among the first to sign up for a return to the new Bahrain International Airshow when the second biennial event is next staged Jan. 19-21, 2012. Among the bizav exhibitors at the show will be TAG Aeronau-tics, MENA Aerospace and local aircraft charter and manage-ment firms Bexair and Cessna.

Here in Dubai this week, Nexus, a flight operations services

company based in Bahrain, signed up to participate in the show. Abdullah Al-Sayed, president and CEO of Nexus, joined Cap-tain Abdulrahman Al Gaoud, undersecretary for Bahrain civil aviation affairs, for a signing cer-emony on Tuesday at the Bahrain Airshow stand (E330).

The show, which is organized jointly by Farnborough airshow organizer Farnborough Inter-national Ltd. in partnership

with the Kingdom of Bahrain’s department of Civil Aviation Affairs, was first held last Jan-uary. It attracted 40 exhibitors, 94 aircraft and more than 5,000 trade visitors.

The event is focused on ensuring that exhibitors have access to the highest level of decision makers from prospec-tive buyers in the Middle East. There were more than 20 offi-cial delegations from about 25

countries at the first show.Exhibitors operate from VIP

chalets and are able to park their aircraft directly in front of them. The show includes a three-hour flying display, and demonstration flights also can be made from the purpose-built show site at Sakhir Air Base, home of the Bahrain royal flight department.

The 2010 show generated approximately $1 billion worth of newly announced business. Organizers are looking to make further improvements for the next Bahrain show, including an enlarged flying display and more structured visits by official dele-gations. They say that the Middle East has generated “unprece-dented” growth rates for private aviation over the past decade.

Organizers have consciously broken away from the tradi-tional airshow format, aim-ing to give exhibitors a more focused way to spend time with clients and prospective cus-tomers. “The newly developed bespoke venue at Sakhir Air Base offers a fantastic tailor-made hospitality environment,”

said Amanda Stainer, exhibi-tions and events director with Farnborough International. “The results from 2010 have proved beyond doubt that a clearly focused event orches-trated to attract the highest level of delegations and visitors is precisely what the industry wanted and we will continue to develop the concept to deliver a very high level trade event offering a genuinely exclusive opportunity.” o

Many of the 40 exhibitors at the first Bahrain airshow last January were able to display some of the 94 attending aircraft directly in front of their chalets.

Access Flight Support expands into Minskby James Wynbrandt

Access Flight Support, a Dubai-based ground handling and flight support services pro-vider, announced an agreement with Minsk International Air-port in Belarus at MEBA.

“We will be exclusive partners with the airport, and we will be the only handler and fuel sup-plier for private aircraft,” said Ayman Sweidan, Access’s chief operating officer. “In the next couple of weeks we will start the operation there.”

Access (Stand C118) handles support for both private and commercial operators, and spe-cializes in support services for flights in Russia and the other CIS nations. “Ninety percent of our clients are from that part of the world,” Sweidan said. “So that is our focus, but we are also strong in the Middle East and Africa, especially with [obtain-ing] permits for short notice flights.”

Sweidan believes third-party support companies are essential for private jet travelers, especially

those flying to destinations off the beaten path.

“In many locations, if you don’t have a supervisor, you’re going to get slow, nonstandard service,” he said. “You need someone to push all those peo-ple on the ground to provide quick, hassle-free services.”

Access is well positioned to provide such services, Swei-dan said. “We have contracts with civil aviation authorities and fuel providers around the world. We are agents to many private jet operators in addition to a few commercial charter air-lines in Dubai and a few Euro-pean locations.”

Although Access Flight Sup-port was founded just one year ago, Sweidan said the 10-person company has grown 20 percent every three months.

“We started in the recession when everyone was closing, and we were a little bit scared we might fail, but actually the business is improving day by day,” he said. “So for us it’s

been a great year.”Sweidan wants to extend

that streak through contacts he makes here at the show.

“There are a few FBOs we would like to meet [at MEBA] and maybe develop some coor-dination regarding ground han-dling,” Sweidan said. “There are a lot of [flight support] compet-itors here, but we are coordinat-ing and cooperating because we can’t cover the whole globe in each location, so they are giv-ing us business, and we are giv-ing them business also.” o

Libyan government-owned operator United Aviation took delivery of a new Bom-bardier Learjet 60XR last month. The company already operates a Global 5000, a Challenger 850 and a Chal-lenger 300. In recent years it sold a number of Dassault Fal-con and Antonov aircraft from its fleet. Tripoli-based United Aviation is part of the same state-owned air transport group that controls Libyan Air-lines and Afriqiyah. It provides charter services to government officials and business people and is seeking to expand its customer base beyond Libya, according to marketing man-ager Salsabil Milad. n

News Note

Ayman Sweidan, COO of Access Flight Support, plans to provide ground handling and fuel for private aircraft at Minsk International Airport.

Hangar 8 Citation XLS relocates to Mumbai

Oxford, UK-based char-ter and aircraft management company Hangar 8 announced this week at MEBA that it will begin operations in India with the basing of a Citation XLS in Mumbai. This move is in line with the company’s aim of being able to provide an aircraft to a charter cus-tomer in any EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa) location within three hours of order confirmation.

In late November Hangar 8 received the first Embraer Lin-eage 1000 to be delivered to a European operator. The air-craft is outfitted in 19-passen-ger configuration, with 52-inch screen in the entertainment zone and a master bedroom suite with a shower.

Last month, Hangar 8 raised £2 million ($3.2 million) with a share flotation on the London Stock Exchange’s AIM mar-ket. It placed just over 1.3 mil-lion shares, representing just over 21 percent of the Oxford-based company’s enlarged share

capital, valuing the company at £9.5 million (based on the open-ing share price of £1.50).

The new capital will be used to fund Hangar 8’s ambitions to attract new air-craft owners and charter cus-tomers. It will be investing in additional staff and equip-ment, partly to meet its aim of becoming more self-suffi-cient in aircraft maintenance.

According to CEO Dustin Dryden, Hangar 8 aims to become the largest private char-ter operator in Europe, Russia, the Middle East and Africa. Its 19-aircraft fleet currently con-sists of a mix of the following types: Dassault Falcon 2000EX, Bombardier Challenger 601, Hawker 4000, Hawker HS 125s, Cessna Citation XLSs and Citation Jets, and a Beech B200 King Air. o

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Flygprestanda previews flight control system

Flygprestanda (Stand C620) is giving visitors to MEBA a pre-view of its new flight operation control system (FOCS), which is currently undergoing trials with an airline. It is scheduled to go live in January, after which point it will be released to market.

FOCS is a new system that provides flight scheduling, route finding, ATC filing services and other planning functions. It can be integrated with the compa-ny’s widely used Performance Guru takeoff performance tool and other systems that plan weights and balances, route

performance, drift-down calcu-lations and the like. FOCS can be tailored to match the exact requirements of the operator.

Dispatchers using FOCS can compile complete trip-kits, which are then available through the Web for collection by the pilot from any location. Trip-kits can be delivered in PDF format for printout or viewing directly on a tablet. Flygpres-tanda has been at the forefront of Web-based planning and analysis tools, and is develop-ing applications that use stan-dard iPhone/iPad, BlackBerry

and Android operating systems. These, too, can be previewed here, and include takeoff and landing performance, mass and balance calculations and an air-port briefing section.

Based in Malmö, Sweden, and with an office in the U.S., Flyg-prestanda is celebrating its 40th anniversary next year. Its prod-ucts are widely used throughout the commercial aviation world by both airlines and business opera-tors alike. The Middle East is a rapidly growing area for the com-pany, and now represents around 10 percent of its customer base. The airport database contains information on more than 6,000 locations and the Middle East is well represented. When no air-field obstacle chart is published in the aeronautical information publication for a certain air-port, Flygprestanda has devel-oped software to evaluate the terrain situation and design safe engine-failure procedures upon which the performance calcula-tions are based.

Flygprestanda hopes that its reputation and experience will provide a ready-made mar-ketplace for FOCS, which in the future could form the basis for the integration of other key task requirements for operators, such as crew planning and doc-ument handling. –D.D.


z ACJC and Sabena Agree On SupportAirbus Corporate Jet Center (ACJC) and Sabena Technics

have signed an agreement designed to ensure that Airbus Corporate Jet (ACJ) operators have continuous and comprehensive spare-parts support. Airframe support for ACJs includes access to spare-part pools covering airframes, auxiliary power units, line-replaceable units (LRU), wheels and brakes, landing gear LRUs, and repair of said parts.

The new agreement offers ACJ operators the chance to opt-in for a double-exchange program to receive their original LRUs back once they’ve been repaired. This new ACJC/Sabena system charges customers a flat monthly fee, but offers the opportunity to tailor spares services to fit their needs.

“This cooperation agreement is a fundamental element that supports our VIP Pass, allowing customers to choose a customized package of services that suits their needs,” explained Fabio Beretta, ACJC’s head of customer support and services.

z Gulfstream Prepping G650 PlantGulfstream Aerospace is preparing an assembly plant for

its new G650, and the U.S manufacturer is also readying an adjacent building for cabin completion work. The completion facility is in a former service center currently being used for flight-test operations. Gulfstream expects all G650 assembly and outfitting to be done at its headquarters in Savannah, Georgia. Certification of the G650 is expected this year, with deliveries of finished aircraft to begin in 2012.

z First Exhibitor Signs for MEBA 2012This year’s MEBA show hasn’t even closed yet, but already

the organizer, F&E Aerospace (Stand E313), has signed up the first exhibitor for the next event, to be held Dec. 11 to 13, 2012. First to take up the opportunity is Executive Aircraft Services from Lebanon (Stand C510), which runs an FBO at Beirut’s Rafic Hariri International Airport, as well as managing a seven-aircraft fleet. “We decided to book our exhibition space now for MEBA in 2012 because we understand the value of such shows, not only to the Middle East market but to the wider global business aviation market,” commented general manager Nicolas Meszaros.

z Emteq Shows Cabin Entertainment SystemEmteq’s (Stand E254) new SkyPro cabin entertainment system

features a non-Ethernet environment with high-definition touch-screen monitors promising an unsurpassed level of control and fidelity. The system uses an interactive, high-definition moving map with 3-D while also delivering on-demand audio and video. SkyPro systems are customizable and scalable to any size aircraft.

The New Berlin, Wisconsin-based company also has moved into intelligent lighting systems with the launch of Daylight, a variable white-light system that replicates natural light inside the aircraft. The system allows passengers to work in a natural, well-lit environment that can be quickly transformed into a warm, relaxing atmosphere with a reduced lighting intensity.

z CAE Adds Challenger 604 Sim in DubaiEmirates-CAE Flight Training (ECFT) has announced the

addition of a full-flight simulator (FFS) for the Bombardier Challenger 604 to its training center, located here in Dubai. The CAE 7000 Series level-D FFS will join a fleet of sims replicating the flight characteristics of more than a score of business jets, and is expected to be ready for training in the first half of 2012.

“Business aircraft fleets and crew needs are expected to double in the Middle East and neighboring regions over the next five years,” said Camille Mariamo, ECFT managing director. “With the addition of the Challenger 604 FFS, ECFT will offer our clients training on 25 business aircraft programs for Bombardier, Dassault, Gulfstream, Hawker Beechcraft, Airbus and Boeing platforms.”

Emirates-CAE Flight Training (Stand C615) is jointly operated by the Emirates Group and CAE, which provides simulation technology and products for civil and military applications around the globe.

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Flygprestanda is giving a preview of its flight operation control system. It has been developing applications that use iPhone/iPad, BlackBerry and Android systems.

Universal looks for ME help

U.S.-based charter opera-tor Universal Jet (Stand E140) has come to MEBA looking to advance its plans to expand operations in the Middle East. According to president Michael McCauley, the company already makes frequent flights into this region but it would like to find a local partner with which to establish a more permanent presence. His long-term plan is to forge alliances with hold-ers of air operators’ certificates all over the world. The 17-year-old firm already has a partner in St. Petersburg, Russia, and next month it is starting a new joint venture in Panama.

In January, Universal Jet will take delivery of a Boeing Business Jet. It will join a fleet that con-sists of 14 Gulfstreams, including a G150 and a mix of GIVs and GIIIs. The company’s headquar-ters is in Boca Raton, Florida, and it also has bases in Fort Lau-derdale, Florida; Teterboro, New

Jersey; and Van Nuys, California.McCauley told AIN the exec-

utive charter sector is now show-ing strong signs of recovery after the economic downturn and that over the past decade there has been a huge increase in the

proportion of international fly-ing that his company is doing (that is, outside the U.S.). “We are not unfamiliar with reces-sions, having been through several since we started the oper-ation,” he commented. –C.A.

EvEryonE rElishEs a littlE onE on onE

Sometimes it is just time to sit down and take a break from tramping through the exhibition halls. Now, on to the next booth.

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London Biggin Hill getting new directorby Charles Alcock

London Biggin Hill Airport has a new managing director and she comes from Dubai. As of March 1, Jenny Munro will take over from Peter Lonergan, who is retiring after 16 years.

Munro, who is British, is currently development vice president with Dubai Interna-tional Airports. She has been in the air transport business

for 22 years, having previously held positions with bmi British Midlands and Emirates Airline. Lonnergan, will continue on a temporary basis as a nonexec-utive director with responsibil-ity for completing construction of the airport’s new fire station and hangar.

“Jenny Munro’s career has spanned both product and oper-ational roles for airlines and airports at increasingly senior executive levels, placing her in an ideal position to lead this his-toric south London airport at an important time in its com-mercial development,” said Big-gin Hill’s executive chairman Andrew Walters.

Biggin Hill (Stand C520) has just started construction of a 55,000-sq-ft hangar, adja-cent to its main passenger ter-minal. The move is part of a wider expansion plan that has already seen an increase in available ramp space to some 500,000 sq ft and which should

also see the addition of a hotel and a new aerospace academy at the site.

The new hangar should be ready to open in the spring of 2011 and the privately owned airport is already laying plans to build a new terminal build-ing. On the other side of the airport, Qatar-based group Rizon Jet is about to open a brand-new FBO complex with a hangar. Visiting operators now have the choice of three handling providers–the airport itself, Jet Aviation and Rizon, which is also active in both the Middle Eastern and European aircraft charter and manage-ment sectors.

Also looming large on the horizon for Biggin Hill is the prospect of acting as a private aviation gateway to the Lon-don Olympic Games, which start less than two years from now on July 27, 2012. By the time of the event, Biggin Hill hopes to have opened a new hotel at the site. It already has planning approval for the proj-ect and is in the final stages of securing a joint venture partner for the project.

There are also plans to estab-lish an aerospace academy at the site in pursuit of its new status as one of London’s new strategic development centers for job creation. The academy would provide training in areas such as aircraft engineering, avi-onics, information technology, operations and ground services.

Last month, Biggin Hill was honored as the Best Business Aviation Airport in the annual UK Airport Operators Associ-ation awards. Judging for this award was conducted inde-pendently by members of the British Business & General Avi-ation Association.

The airport is located about 12 miles southeast of central London. o


Peter Lonergan (front left), the soon-to-retire managing director of London Biggin Hill Airport, last month collected the UK Airport Operators Award for Best Business Aviation Airport. With him are other members of the airport staff.

And if you look At the specs...

Face-to-face meetings with clients haven’t gone out of fashion, which is where business jets can help this happen in an efficient way..

Air Support unveiling faster PC flight planningby Robert P. Mark

Air Support Preflight Plan-ning System (PPS), provider of route planning software for PCs, plans to unveil a faster flight plan Optimizer. Current customers need do little more than turn on their computers to obtain this major upgrade because it will happen, for the most part, behind the scenes. Air Support is based at Billund Airport in Denmark.

The Optimizer, demonstrated here at MEBA (Stand C512), provides a lighting-speed reply to route queries. It takes less than two seconds to consider the potential route, analyze all weather, wind and temperature and Notam data and return a route with fuel-burn estimates in a PDF format capable of being read on a smartphone.

Jens Pisarski, Air Support’s director of sales and marketing, explained, “The Optimizer deliv-ers the right answers much more accurately than ever before. The system will, of course, optimize for minimum cost, distance, time or even minimum turbulence

penetration on any given trip.”Pisarski also said many of

Air Support’s 30 employees have been at work on the PPS Opti-mizer for a few months. The com-pany is almost ready to roll out the beta test to a select number of customers operating aircraft as small as Citations and Learjets to as large as Gulfstreams and Fal-cons. Airlines are also testing the software for potential shortcom-ings, including regional turbo-prop and Boeing 737 operators. Pisarski believes the feedback loop between Air Support and those customers should make it easy to identify and fix and bugs that crop up. He expects to release the new Optimizer in mid-February 2011.

The other important aspect of the Optimizer is its seamless interface between the Air Support product and most major schedul-ing and crew planning software programs from legacy systems like Sabre and AIMS, to new-gener-ation tools, such as Travico Biz-flight, Leon and Caeroscene. o

VIPport offers VIP travelers a Moscow gatewayRussia represents a fast-

growing region and increas-ingly popular destination for business aviation, with a sig-nificant rise in traffic between Moscow and the Middle East, in particular.

VIPport (Stand E315) of - fers business and VIP trav-elers a world-class gateway to the Russian capital at the Vnukovo-3 airport, where a comprehensive support center for business aviation has been established. The airport lies at the heart of Russian business

aviation, handling around 75 percent of the country’s VIP/executive traffic.

Recognizing the dramatic increase in business traffic over the last decade and the need for a dedicated fixed base operation, VIPport has been expanded con-siderably since its establishment. New ramp space, now totaling over 210,000 square meters, and 32,000 square meters of heated hangar space are available for a large number of aircraft, includ-ing those up to BBJ size. A newly built terminal handles

international VIP traffic, while a recently completed freeway pro-vides rapid road connections to the city center.

As well as standard FBO services, such as ground han-dling, fuel, exclusive catering, visa support and ground trans-portation, VIPport provides line maintenance for a range of business aircraft in a joint ven-ture with Jet Aviation, which opened servicing facilities for Bombardier, Embraer and Gulfstream aircraft at Vnukovo from late 2007. –D.D.

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EBACE2011BUSINESS AVIATION – LINKING COMMUNITIES AND ECONOMIES

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MEBA Convention News 12_09_10

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