Dubai: Royal Jet has started its $700 million (Dh2.6 billion) fleet expansion strategy with the delivery of two Bombardiers and signed an agreement for two Boeing Business Jets (BBJs).
The Abu Dhabi-based jet charter company took delivery of a Bombardier Learjet 60 XR in October and a Bombardier Global 5000 in November, Patrick Gordon, acting president and chief executive, told reporters in Dubai on Monday.
A second Global 5000 will join the fleet in January 2015 followed by another Learjet 60 XR in April.
Gordon also said Royal Jet will take the delivery of two Boeing BBJ1s, corporate models of the 737 series, in September and December 2015. This will bring the fleet size to 11 aircraft.
Gordon declined to state how much Royal Jet had paid for the new aircraft but said they were financed through UAE bank loans.
The Learjet 60 XR, seating up to nine, costs around $13 million and the Global 5000, which seats up to 12 people, costs around $50 million at list prices. Boeing 737, which the BBJ1 is based on, has a list price of between $78 and $99 million.
The new orders are part of a plan to expand the Royal Jet fleet to 20 aircraft by 2020. The orders were initially considered to replace some of the existing fleet; however, a recent shake-up in management has changed the outlook.
Gordon, a long-time adviser to Royal Jet chairman Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, replaced Shane O’Hare in October. O’Hare has since taken up a position at Etihad Airways.
Gordon said “there was a disagreement between Shane and the board of directors” over the direction O’Hare wanted to take the company in.
Following O’Hare’s departure Royal Jet has pulled out of a luxury travel tie-up with Ambercrombie & Kent and will now focus the majority of its operations from Abu Dhabi International, not Al Bateen Executive, Gordon said.
O'Hare declined to comment when contacted by Gulf News.
