This year’s Middle East Business Aviation show, to be held at Dubai World Central December 8-10, is on course to be the biggest yet, reports the organizer, the Middle East Business Aircraft Association. MEBAA founding chairman Ali Ahmed Al Naqbi told AIN that bookings have already exceeded targets by nearly 20 percent and that more aircraft and helicopters are expected than at the previous five editions of the show. Sections launched in 2012 and devoted to business airports and aircraft interiors are expected to expand considerably.

Any company that signs up to the MEBA show during EBACE at the MEBAA stand (Booth 2243) can enter a drawing for a chance to win a hospitality table for a day during the show. AIN will have a full team reporting on-site from this year’s show, including online news and three print editions of MEBA Convention News.

MEBAA now has 222 members and has launched two new membership categories, for academic institutions and non-affiliated industry professionals. The association’s MEBAC conferences are proving popular, with the next to be held in Tunis in September followed by another in Amman, Jordan.

As well as tackling issues such as the gray market and, MEBAA continues to raise awareness of business aviation as a tool for productivity. The association notes that the more companies are turning to business aviation as a means of transporting executives and key staff. However, sectors that remain under-developed in the region, noted Al Naqbi, are light jets and turboprops. MEBAA is encouraging companies to begin operations to extend business activity into these shorter-haul aircraft.