MEBA
PUBLICATIONS
12.8.14 • DUBAI
Convention News
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MONDAY
AINONLINE.COM
DAVID McINTOSH
MEBA MUSE Business aviation prospects are looking promising for the Gulf region, despite economic and political obstacles. Demand is up, and the industry is optimistic.
Bizav exodus to DWC stalls over cost concerns
Middle East would benefit from harmonized regulations
by Peter Shaw-Smith
Business aviation in the Middle East needs good, consistent regulation if it is to remain efficient and competitive and to grow consistently, delegates at yesterday’s MEBAA conference were told by leading industry figures. The key issue is that squaring the circle of which regulatory regime to follow is a daunting challenge in a region where Saudi Arabia observes the FAA rulebook and the rest of the six Gulf Cooperation Council countries are now committed to developing business and general aviation
Negotiations for the transfer of business aviation traffic from Dubai International Airport (DXB) to Dubai World Central (DWC) have intensified over the past 12 months and it is clear that DWC representatives will have to overcome a number of obstacles before they secure the full buy-in of leading operators and service providers. Several FBOs have expressed concern to AIN that the next phase of growth at DWC, which is now
home to the MEBA show, does not lead to sharp cost increases, especially over land-lease costs for maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facilities. The closure between May and July 2014 of DXB runways for resurfacing helped speed up the move of business aviation away from the downtown airport, where slots are becoming harder to obtain and congestion is becoming a real issue.
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Completions
Aircraft
Business Aviation
GDC Boosts Engineering Skills
New Falcons Prepare to Fly
Completions specialist GDC Technics will have full design organization approval capability following its acquisition of Germany’s PFW Engineering. Page 8
Dassault engineering teams are busy advancing the manufacturer’s two new large cabin business jets, the Falcon 5X and the 8X. Page 18
under an EASA framework. Pilot licenses, type ratings and MRO accreditations are all areas where having six oversight regimes among the GCC civil aviation authorities, each with its own idiosyncrasies, can create daily problems that could be avoided through a more cooperative and long-term approach. Several GCC regulators, facing acute manpower shortages, have opted to treat general aviation as if it were identical to commercial aviation to avoid the challenge Continued on page 45 u
Flight Training
Ground Handling
Data Shows Middle East Growth
Middle East Pilots Train at Home
New Saudi Support Available
Latest flight activity data from maintenance provider JSSI shows the Middle East leading worldwide growth rates. Page 22
Middle East-based pilots no longer have to travel to other continents to get training now that training provicers are expanding their facilities in this part of the world. Page 28
FBO group Jet Aviation has been granted permission to act as a handling agent at six more airports around Saudi Arabia.
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