Royal Jet opens Dubai office

Royal Jet, the Abu Dhabi-based luxury aircraft charter service, yesterday opened its new office in Dubai, appointing Dnata as its General Sales Agent (GSA).

Shaikh Ahmad Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of Dubai Civil Aviation and Chairman of Emirates Group, and Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Chairman of Royal Jet, formally opened the new offices.

"Our new Dubai sales office will cater to the strong demand for high-end luxury leisure and business VIP jet charters," said Ammar Balkar, Royal Jet's head of sales and marketing.

"To meet this growth, we have expanded to set up sales offices outside our Abu Dhabi base. This new office is our second after Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait will follow shortly."

Rashid Al Noori, senior vice-president of Dnata Agencies, said that through this partnership, they will offer luxury charter flights to their corporate clients in government and multinational organisations currently served by the various brands under the Dnata umbrella such as Business Travel International and Government Travel Services.

Dnata Agencies, currently GSA for over 30 airlines, will also extend Royal Jet's services to all airlines and travel agencies in the UAE and the region.

Royal Jet started operations in May 2003 with a 42-seat Boeing Business Jet (BBJ).

In August 2003, it became the launch customer of the Gulfstream G300. In August and September 2003, the first two G300s were introduced. In 2004, a second BBJ was received.

"A Bombardier Challenger 300 and a third BBJ will join the fleet in June 2005 as will an Italian Piaggio Avanti P180 which Royal Jet will be managing from March."