Regional private jet industry set to grow to $800m by 2012

Dubai: The regional private jet industry is expected to grow from an annual $500 million (Dh1.84 billion) to $800 million by 2012, according to top industry expert.

Sultan Bin Saeed Al Mansouri, Minister of Economy and chairman of the General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), at the opening of the Middle East Business Aviation (Meba) exhibition, said the region's fleet strength is expected to triple by 2025, with low-cost airlines and super-jumbos contributing to the growth.

"The sustained growth of the aviation sector will also bring in economies of scale, leading to cost reductions, which in turn will assimilate the market and spearhead more traffic," he said.

"Today there are business aircraft around the world that represent a major component of the world's aviation economy," Al Mansouri said, adding that the Middle East in general and the Gulf states in particular resemble a healthy market for business aircraft.

"The business aviation traffic in the UAE is witnessing steady growth and is estimated at 1,300 movements monthly," he said.

Globally, there are approximately 4,900 companies that own and operate more than 6,000 business aircraft, resulting in the creation of 16 million jobs, according to sources.

While international markets slow down, Meba saw announcements of over $1.2 billion in the first three hours of the show, surpassing last year's figure of $907 million by 50 per cent.

Alison Weller, director of Fairs and Exhibitions Aero-space, organisers of Meba of behalf of the Middle East Business Aviation Association (Mebaa) said: "The numerous good-news stories that we have seen on the first day at Meba 2008 demonstrate the robust state of the executive travel industry."

Last year, the event's first edition saw 90 exhibitors from 20 countries, displaying 31 aircraft on the static park.

The visitor numbers were at 2,400.

Ali Al Naqbi, founding chairman of Meba, said that this year, the show attracted 250 exhibitors from 30 countries, displaying 75 aircraft on the static park.