Palm Aviation (Stand No. 1000) plans to invest $11 million in building an FBO at the Al Maktoum International Airport currently being built at Jebel Ali. The flight-support group, headquartered at Dubai International Airport, intends to open the new facility by the start of 2010.

Launched in February 2007, the company provides comprehensive flight-support services, including flight planning, permits, weather information and supervision of ground-handling. Palm has its own fuel division and also is preparing to start an executive charter operation as part of its goal of increasing revenues by as much as 35 percent annually.

According to operations director Capt. David Ovey, business aircraft operators still need quite a lot of help and local expertise to get the necessary permits in the Middle East and to be sure of getting the service they need on the ground. Beyond major centers like Dubai, he said, infrastructure is still not satisfactory and ground-handling service providers are not sufficiently customer-focused. He said that slow delivery of fuel supplies are the most common reason for flights being delayed.

Palm employs a staff of 30 multilingual individuals and can provide agents to support clients in most locations. It recently made an agreement with Jordan Aircraft Maintenance Ltd. to support the company’s clients during visits to its facilities in Amman.