Sharjah: Regulators in the UAE, and other Gulf countries, are lagging in their efforts to combat grey market business aviation, an industry executive has said.
“It’s a bigger problem [in the Gulf rather than Europe],” said Marwan Khalek, chief executive of British business jet servicing company Gama Aviation.
The grey market refers to operators flying passengers in private jets without an Air Operators Certificate (AOC) or permit for the region. Grey market flights are active in all global markets, however, it is believed to undercut as much as 25 per cent in the Middle East.
Khalek agreed that the Gulf is struggling to squeeze out grey market operators because regulators lack the laws and regulations of more sophisticated markets like Europe.
“The enforcement is lacking. The penalties are not substantial enough [the world over],” Khalek said in an interview on Tuesday.
Gulf authorities, including the UAE’s General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), have said they are implementing measures to restrict the number of grey market operators in the regional market. However, the GCAA has also said that it currently lacks the manpower to effectively manage both private jet operators and its burgeoning commercial aviation industry.
Khalek said the industry is working through a number of associations to improve understanding among passengers. He said that many grey market passengers do not understand that they are not insured if they fly with one of these operators.
“If you knew that was the case you wouldn’t step on it (the plane),” Khalek added.
