Arab Wings, the Amman, Jordan-based charter operator owned by International Wings Group (IWG, Stand 665), is increasingly busy with its offshoot company in Iraq, known as Iraq Gate.

“Iraq Gate was set up last year. There are four aircraft under the AOC, with a fifth on the way. These include two Hawker 800 XPs, one King Air B200, one CRJ200 and another CRJ200 entering service before the end of the year,” Ahmad Abu Ghazaleh, CEO and general manager, Arab Wings, told AIN in an interview. An Embraer Legacy 600 will also join Iraq Gate’s fleet.

The aircraft are all on charter and in long-term use with international oil and gas companies, mostly for internal use in Iraq, with the busiest cities destinations being Erbil, Sulaymaniyah, Baghdad and Basra. “At times, we are doing 70 hours a month per aircraft., and it’s a busy area. Our Iraqi AOC was awarded in November 2013,” he said.

Flight Training in Jordan

Another unit of IWG, the Royal Jordanian Air Academy (RJAA), continues to be an important source of fresh new pilots for the Middle East region. Abu Ghazaleh said the work was is ongoing to replicate the facility in Iraq.

“Our flying school in Iraq is still under study,” Abu Ghazaleh said. “All the training is taking place in Jordan. Currently, we have 400 technicians from the Iraqi air force training at the RJAA in Amman. Multiple reasons have led to the delay in setting up the Iraqi flying school. For now, it's just more because of quite a few factors, and it’s more ideal to do the training in Jordan.”

RJAA is currently training “In terms of pilot training, we have 400 pilots from the Middle East training and just signed a contract with an undisclosed entity from China to have 118 Chinese pilots train in Jordan. “We didn't think of Jordan as the natural location to train Chinese pilots, but they studied us for a while, and saw the same standards as Europe, he explained. “We are able to fly 12 months a year because of good weather conditions, unlike Europe and the UK, where it can be difficult to fly. A quasi-government agency recruits them for training purposes and has placed them all over world.”

“China needs 500,000 new pilots in the next 20 years, to keep the growth of scheduled and general aviation going, Abu Ghazaleh said. “That’s a huge figure, but when you look at the amount compared to the whole population, it’s the same ratio as other countries. They are looking at options around the world to do their training. There will be larger flows of Chinese pilots in future, so we are making the effort to be successful, as this could be the first step in getting many more trainees in future. They speak basic English, but we have to give them aviation English.”

RJAA also has can handle up to 50 trainee pilots at any one time and nine training aircraft operating in Aqaba., so that weather is poor in Amman, classes can continue in Aqaba.

Adding Charter Aircraft

On the management and charter side, the total combined Arab Wings and Sharjah, UAE-based Gulf Wings fleet includes now numbers 24 aircraft. “By January 2015, we will have the latest addition to the fleet, a BBJ with Gulf Wings based in Saudi Arabia,” Abu Ghazaleh said. “There are six aircraft in Sharjah with the seventh, the BBJ, to be added shortly. There are 12 aircraft with Arab Wings in Jordan. A client in Jordan is also talking to us about a Legacy 600 to be added to the managed fleet.” Sharjah, UAE-based Gulf Wings is celebrating five years of successful operations here at MEBA 2014.

Of the 24 aircraft under management, 70 percent are on charter, Abu Ghazaleh said. “This year, the Lineage 1000 was our largest aircraft. We also manage a Gulfstream G450, a Legacy 650, two Challenger 604s, a Citation, and different Hawkers. The latest to arrive join the fleet was a Falcon 900 XP, which arrived last month.

“A gray market exists, Abu Ghazaleh said. “It’s always easy to do in the Middle East. I hope the authorities manage to regulate this. What would be great for large charter companies in the region would be if they could work with, for example, the Cayman Islands authorities to get commercial approval. If they could try to find a way for the aircraft to be commercially operated, that would be a great way to regulate the grey market.”

Abu Ghazaleh said that Saudi Arabia was likely to figure in its IWG’s plans. “The Saudi Arabian market is an interesting market for us, but I’d like to see where it goes in the future.”