ExecuJet Aviation Group Dubai (Stand 575) hopes to complete a move to Dubai World Central (DWC) by 2017 in order to replicate its activities at Dubai’s existing airport. “We are targeting January 1, 2017. That’s the date we believe we want to be fully operational [there],” said Mike Berry, vice president Middle East, ExecuJet.

ExecuJet’s Dubai office was set up at Dubai International Airport (DXB) in 1999, making it one of the first independent operators to offer business aviation services there. Executjet offers new and pre-owned sales, aircraft management, flight operations, FBO and maintenance services. Berry said, “We have a broad spectrum of customers in this region: government, royalty, individuals, and tourists coming into and passing through, as well as business travellers.

“We’ve got the traditional customer base, with very-high-net-worth individuals. Sometimes, it’s hard to differentiate between individual and company. That’s the traditional aircraft owner [here]. The customer base now incorporates tourists, holiday travellers from Russia or [elsewhere] coming through Dubai to various onward destinations. Now the shift is that businesses see the jet as a business tool–the efficiency it brings in time value.”

ExecuJet’s Middle East operation is a joint venture with a local partner. “We found a very good partner in [the UAE’s] Alpha Middle East Holdings Group. The region has developed over time. We manage everything for [owners],” Berry said.

The Big Move

To date, the official stance regarding the move of business-jet operations from DXB to DWC is not clear. It is generally recognized that the inexorable growth of scheduled commercial flights at DXB, and the availability of space at DWC, make it inevitable that bizjet operations will eventually transfer to the new airport. The DXB runway rehabilitation closures from May to July gave everyone a chance for a dry run at DWC.

Berry said, “[The authorities] have been very accommodating [over the DWC move]. We are still working on the transition. But it’s going to happen and we’d rather work together in the interests of general aviation. It’s a complex situation for ExecuJet. We are going to try and replicate what we have at DXB at DWC. We’ve got two massive hangars and an FBO [at DXB] so there is a lot of planning. Obviously, as general aviation still exists at both airports, we want to be at both airports.

“One can understand why [the move to DWC] was necessary. Yes, [the runway closure] was painful. Yes, it did impact our business. Luckily a lot of it was over the summer period when things are generally [less busy]. We had to think how we could give scheduled maintenance support to our customers.”

As an example of the growing lack of space at DXB, low-cost carrier Flydubai today operates around 40 aircraft and has more than 100 on order. Its base at the airport’s Terminal 2 is only one mile along the airport’s perimeter from ExecuJet’s existing base.

Berry said, “We don’t have as much parking available [at DXB] as we did prior to the runway closure. We need to see how we are going to accept aircraft with limited parking availability. It’s all part of the strategy to start moving general aviation across to DWC. That is the long-term goal.”

He explained that some high-net-worth individuals would continue to push for services at DXB. “That’s always going to happen,” he continued. “The runway closure was an opportunity for us to have people experience DWC, and that it isn’t really that far out, depending on which side of Dubai you are traveling from. Yes, the infrastructure’s not there yet because it hasn’t been developed, and people may come back here. [Many] people may wish to remain at DXB, but as I said, we are facing constraints with parking. We have to make it attractive, from a service and pricing point of view, for passengers to go to DWC.

“[Compared to] prior to the runway closure, we are probably operating now at 60 percent of the parking capacity that [was previously] allocated to us. With all the deliveries coming to Flydubai, and Emirates, general aviation has to give up space to accommodate the bigger aircraft.”

Berry said ExecuJet has MRO accreditation for most of the Bombardier, Embraer and Hawker fleets, as well as the Gulfstream 150 and 200, and that this served as the initial basis for the company’s DWC MRO services. “We have full MRO capability and line capability there. We have FBOs established and running there. We have just built a new FBO lounge alongside the existing common terminal, to [provide] additional capacity. We invested in creating another huge lounge for the capacity that we expect to go through DWC as this transition happens. ExecuJet is pushing and negotiating for a stand-alone facility. So yes, we’re here [at DXB], and with that said, even when general aviation goes [to DWC], we hope we’ll still be here.”

Berry said DWC has “got a way to go” to be ready. “The infrastructure for general aviation is being developed. Unfortunately, at this point in time, it’s only DC Aviation sitting out there in a custom-built facility. It needs the other players to go and establish now so that people can see more providers investing on the airport, putting up facilities to get this going. In three-to-four years’ time, you’ll see a very different DWC than what you see today.”

Saudi FBOs

In Saudi Arabia, ExecuJet operations are limited to a Riyadh FBO, Berry said. “The Saudis themselves will admit that compared to other FBOs, Riyadh is a let-down in standards. There is talk about new general aviation facilities. That’s what is needed. For now, we’ve got to work with what we have. We are doing whatever we can do to try to upgrade the space, and improve standards.

“In Jeddah, the facilities are 100 percent better than Riyadh. You’ll find stand-alone facilities there, unlike the central terminal facilities in Riyadh. It’s difficult, because we are trying to raise standards and raise prices, because things are done differently. We are trying to bring those standards and lift the whole mind-set.

“We have no facility in Jeddah. Part of the plan is ‘how we get into Jeddah.’ It’s a lengthy process. I think we need to be in both places to keep our customers happy. Saudi is a healthy market for massive heavy machinery. It’s unusual. We are starting to see Saudi charter coming back [strongly]. [Many] Saudis are using business jets as a business tool.

“In each situation we try to assess who owns the aircraft. Is it for charter or is it private? For someone who owns a 757, he’s not worried about 200 hours’ charter a year to cover costs. For a sensible person who’s chartering, we see CEOs and others fly into the region commercially. They are then hiring business jets from us to fly through the region. Are they taking the biggest jet? No. There are ultra-wealthy individuals in the region. We don’t know the extent of that.”

Elsewhere in the region, ExecuJet set up a new FBO in Istanbul, Turkey, in partnership with the local Bilen Air Service, in 2011.

MEBA 2014

Berry praised MEBAA’s efforts to improve the standing of regional business aviation. “It’s a young organisation. It is operating within a region that doesn’t have a full appreciation for business aviation. It is an uphill task, trying to get the regulations in place.

“One of the issues concerning MEBAA is… board composition. It is a mix of OEMs, operators and service providers. A next step would involve trying to break up the management companies and operators to form subcommittees. [On] things like the grey market, OEMs may be interested, but that’s not really their concern. It is ours as an operator. That’s the next step.”

Berry said ExecuJet attended October’s annual NBAA show in Orlando, Florida informally. “As ExecuJet, EBACE and MEBA are the two shows [where we exhibit] as a group. Both shows attract a lot of people. It’s a question of investment and return. They are opportunities to meet with suppliers and customers.”