Hadid International Services last week opened an office in Bangui, capital of the Central African Republic (CAR), at the invitation of the country’s civil aviation authority. The Dubai-based company claims that the agreement it signed with CAR authorities makes it the exclusive provider of overflight and landing permits in the CAR.

“We [now] have a physical presence on the ground in Bangui Airport,” said Issa Zuriqi, Hadid’s regional director of Africa, Asia and Australia. According to Hadid, the CAR is an advantageous base for its African flight support operations.

“In the past four months requests have in some cases tripled with regard to [overflight] and landing permits, handling services, refueling, hotels and airport transfers,” said Chakib Boudjemaa, business development manager for Africa and Middle East.

Hadid has African offices in Niger, Algeria and Libya and a physical presence in Djibouti, Congo Brazzaville and Kinshasa, Ethiopia and South Africa. Zuriqi reported that business aviation activity is growing in both Ethiopia and Djibouti.

Concierge Support

Here at the EBACE show, Hadid (Booth Y044) is introducing its new 1st Point Concierge Team. The new group consists of 15 multi-lingual concierge professionals who are ready to make any arrangements for clients around the world, including hotel bookings, VIP transportation, meet and greet services, visa assistance, restaurant bookings, tour guides, security and spa treatments. According to the company, it handles more than 65,000 trip support requests each year.