Dubai: DC Aviation Al Futtaim, a Dubai-based private jet operator, now expects to break even in 2016, more than six months later than it had originally planned, but its senior executive said he remains confident.
Holger Ostheimer, general manager, said in an interview on Wednesday the company will now break even at the end of the first quarter next year largely due to receiving its air operator certificate (AOC) about seven months later than expected.
Ostheimer said in March last year DC Aviation Al Futtaim, a joint venture between Germany’s DC Aviation and Dubai-based Al Futtaim, would break even midway through this year. It received its AOC from the UAE General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) in February. The AOC allows it to operate aircraft for commercial purposes. No reason was given for the delay in the AOC.
The number of operated flights in the first quarter is “more than three times” those in the first three months of 2014, Ostheimer said. The increase in flights is partly due to more and more private jet owners choosing to fly to Al Maktoum International at Dubai World Central (DWC), where DC Aviation Al Futtaim is based, rather than the often congested Dubai International.
Ostheimer said the increase in flights “directly translate(s) into levels of revenue” but declined to state how many flights it had operated or revenues for the three months to March 31, 2015.
DC Aviation Al Futtaim does not own any private jets. Instead it enters into commercial arrangements with private jet owners to manage their aircraft. It also provides aircraft management, VIP aircraft and passenger handling, maintenance and business jet charter services.
Ostheimer said the company will manage three aircraft by the end of the year, up from one today. He said Jeddah and Riyadh in Saudi Arabia, Delhi and Mumbai in India, London in the United Kingdom, Paris in France and Singapore were the most popular destinations and there had been increasing activity to Africa.
