Business | Aviation

Royal Jet aims for $500m turnover by 2012

UAE-based executive flight services provider Royal Jet on Monday said it aims to a achieve turnover of $500 million by 2012 - a five-fold increase on its current position.

  • By Robert Ditcham, Staff Reporter
  • Published: 00:23 November 13, 2007
  • Gulf News

Dubai: UAE-based executive flight services provider Royal Jet on Monday said it aims to a achieve turnover of $500 million by 2012 - a five-fold increase on its current position.

"The future is looking extremely good. Royal Jet's five-year plan is a highly pro-active response to the wealth of opportunities available," said Shane O'Hare, president and CEO of Royal Jet.

The announcement came as the Abu Dhabi-headquartered company released a report crediting the Middle East business aviation sector with achieving a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 40 per cent in aircraft movements and fleet growth.

The report said the value of the region's charter market has achieved 23 per cent annual growth over the past two years.

"With growth in the UAE achieving CAGRs which outpace even the surging markets of Asia, Royal Jet has an exceptional opportunity for significant business advancement," said O'Hare.

The report estimates the Middle East charter market is currently worth $500 million a year, with business mainly emanating from Saudi Arabia. The UAE's market is valued at around $176 million.

According to the report, the region's charter market is characterised by large airframe dominance with a balanced profile of regional and inter-continental destinations.

The fleet is broken down by aircraft size into 40 per cent devoted to the light and mid-sized range, 29 per cent for the super mid-size, heavy and regional range, 27 per cent to VIP airlines and four per cent to ultra, long-range airliners.

The report placed Royal Jet as the Middle East's largest charter supplier with a 16 per cent market share.

Royal Jet, which operates the world's largest BBJ (Boeing Business Jet) fleet, recently expanded its current fleet of executive jets with the addition of a fifth BBJ.

The company's five-year plan envisages a fleet of more than 20 aircraft, most of which centre on large-to-mid-range capacity airliners, it said.

Its current fleet of 12 jets includes five BBJs, an Avro RJ85 premier short-haul jet, a Medevac Learjet L55, two twin-engined Learjet L35s, two mid-range Gulfstream 300s and a long-range Gulfstream 4SP.

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