Dubai: The Middle East private business aviation market will not be stung by the launch of Qatar Airways’ all-business class flight to London, a regional aviation has said.
Ali Al Naqbi, Founding Chairman of the Middle East Business Aviation Association (MEBAA), said in an interview that Qatar Airways is going after a different market from the private jet fliers.
“If you want to travel with the rest of the people you can go with this [Qatar Airways] service if you want to travel on your own with you people you know then you will choose private aviation,” he said.
Last month, Qatar Airways announced it will launch an all-business class daily service from Doha to London Heathrow in May. The Airbus A319 will offer 40 seats. The airline has said it plans to launch more all-business class routes.
But the concept is not new, Al Naqbi points out, with other airlines such as Singapore once offered an all business class service from Singapore to New York.
Al Naqbi said the aviation market is big enough for both products but insists that “if you wanted to save time you know where to go”.
Qatar Airways also operates Qatar Executive, a subsidiary that focuses on private chartered flights. Last month, Akbar Al Baker, chief executive of Qatar Airways said the airline plans to boost its Executive operations.
Al Naqbi is not too keen on Qatar Executive but said it points to growth in the Middle East business sector.
“What I would like to see is Qatar Airways, Emirates and Etihad focus on their product because that is a very important product and let us focus on our product. When you start mixing the two there is some element of losing the touch and losing the service,” he said.
