Research carried out by WingX and commissioned by the Middle East Business Aviation Association (MEBAA) has found that the Middle East and North Africa region enjoyed a mixed year for bizav in 2014.

While flight activity was up 6.6 percent in North Africa year to date, WingX found that movements had fallen 1.9 per cent in the Middle East region during 2014.

“Regional instability, in the second half of 2014, has undermined business aviation activity in the Middle East this year,” the WingX report said.

Over 9,000 flights took off from the region this year, making it the second most popular region for business aviation behind Russia, a press release issued by the International Business Aviation Council (IBAC) said.

The WingX study found that airports in the UAE are the busiest in the region, with a total of 41,000 business aviation movements this year.

Saudi Arabia is the largest bizav market in the region, with a 35 percent share of the fleet. The average age of the Saudi fleet is 14.9 years, in comparison with 10 years for the UAE fleet, which enjoys a 26 percent share.

Top five business aviation airports in the region were Al Maktoum International, Dubai International, Beirut, Jeddah and Riyadh, WingX said.

MEBAA Founding Chairman Ali Al Naqbi published the findings of the WingX research on the floor of this week’s MEBAA conference.

“Business aviation in the Middle East and North Africa is going through unprecedented change. As witnesses at our conference, key stakeholders from regulators to manufacturers are willing to work collectively… for the advancement of our industry as a whole.

“MEBAA conferences continue to give our members and key stakeholders the platform to share and understand the problems and issues the industry faces.”