FlyCorporate Magazine ISSUE 16

EMEA & Asia

FC

FLYCORPORATE

EMEA & Asia

BRINGING TOGETHER BUSINESS AVIATION AND BUSINESS LEADERS

Market Focus:

Middle East Africa India

FC Interview:

Jean Rosanvallon

President and CEO Dassault Falcon

Quick Conversions • Cabin IFE • Cessna Latitude and Longitude • Trip Planning Resources Aircraft Review • Airport Review • BizApps • Landings: FC’s Guide to Oman ISSUE 16 - 2012 ISSN: 2030-0468

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V I S I T

U S

A T

M E B A

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4 EMEA & Asia

Contents FC UPFRONT 8 Meet the Team 10 Reference Index 12 Memo 14 News Analysis 18 Opinion: Avinode 20 Ask an Expert: Algae.Tec

FC Interview 22 Jean Rosanvallon, President and CEO of Dassault Falcon sat down to talk with FlyCorporate’s Cameron Heffernan to share some insight into why the company takes a long-term view toward R&D.

22

MARKET FOCUS 28 MARKET FOCUS: MIDDLE EAST, AFRICA INDIA Ciel Jolley takes a closer look at the general sentiment in these three distinct regions. The consensus: potential for growth is developing at Mach speed.

The Middle East: an incredibly important market, is seeing the ‘spring’ of the mid-size jet market, but it is still the ‘summer’ of the wide-cabin. While luxury assets seem to be flooding the market, this is not without challenges.

34 India: dubbed ‘the next big thing’ after China, and with big investment promises from the Indian Government, it is not a case of “where are the opportunities here?”, but “where are the greatest opportunities?”.

28

36 Africa: Don’t be fooled into thinking this region will offer easy return on investment, but don’t underestimate the brand new opportunities here, either.

Cover photo: Dassault Falcon 900DX

INTERIORS For factory-level, handcrafted quality and material, bring it on home – to your Citation Service Center.

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AVIONICS | INTERIORS | CABIN TECHNOLOGY | MOBILE SERVICE | PAINT | PARTS AND PROGRAMS

6 EMEA & Asia

Contents SECTOR FOCUS

38

42 QUICK CONVERSIONS: Quick Change for Business Aircraft It’s easy to forget that not all charter flights are for business executives requiring comfort and seating space. A challenge arises when you’re switching between requirements, and between people and equipment. Rod Simpson takes a look at the crucial role of quick-change kits for business aircraft.

46 CABIN IFE: Up, Up, but Not Completely Away We take a look at some of the latest and greatest products and services for staying connected and entertained while onboard and flying across the globe. Before you invest there are some big questions to ask, and we’ve started the ball rolling here.

42

FC REVIEW 38 AIRCRAFT: Latitude and Longitude – Cessna’s New Direction For manufacturers of larger aircraft, the impact of the recent economic recession was not so bad, but Cessna has always specialised in small and mid-sized jets which have felt the full impact of business cutbacks. Rod Simpson reports.

52 BIZAPPS: The latest tools for business aviation 54 LANDINGS: Oman

60 DISTRIBUTION FlyCorporate’s global distribution network.

46

MORE POSSIBILITIES...

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Powered by Rolls-Royce engines, you can fly from London to New York or Dubai to Johannesburg in total comfort. The largest living space in its class divided into three separate areas allows you to work or rest.

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8 EMEA & Asia

FlyCorporate EMEA & Asia

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Taunya Renson-Martin

Diana Albiol

Natalya Berdikyan

Managing Partner

Editorial and Publishing Director

Business Development Director

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diana.albiol@flycorporate.com

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+32 9 262 03 37

+32 9 262 03 38

Cameron Heffernan

Ciel Jolley

Rod Simpson

Deputy Editor

Online Editor

Senior Writer

cameron.heffernan@flycorporate.com

ciel.jolley@flycorporate.com

+1 315 395 33 74

+32 9 262 03 34

Leen Schellinck

Christopher Smith

Agatha Lo

Circulation & Production Manager

Multimedia Production

Production Assistant China

leen.schellinck@flycorporate.com

chris.smith@flycorporate.com

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Newsdesk editor@flycorporate.com

Art Director mike.vlieghe@flycorporate.com

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Total global print-run: 10,000 BPA worldwide qualified circulation: 9,230 copies (June 2012)

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10 EMEA & Asia

FC UPFRONT Reference Index

AĂŠlia Assurances aelia-assurances.com

Dubai World Central (DWC) dwc.ae

MetroJet metrojet.com

Africa Flight Investments africaflight.co.za

Embraer Executive Jets embraerexecutivejets.com

Pheonix Aviation phoenixaviation.co.ke

African Business Aviation Association (AfBAA) afbaa.org

Empire Aviation empire-aviation.com

PwC pwc.comin

Aircell aircell.com

EverGreen Apple Nigeria evergreenapple.com

Qatar Executive qatarexec.com.qa

Airworks India airworks.in

ExecuJet execujet.net

RizonJet rizonjet.com

Algae.Tec Ltd algaetec.com.au

Flying Colours Corp flyingcolourscorp.com

Rockwell Collins rockwellcollins.com

Arinc Direct direct.arinc.net

Gama Aviation gamagroup.com

Rolls Royce rolls-royce.com

Atlantic FuelEx atlanticfuelex.com

Hawker Beechcraft hawkerbeechcraft.com

RoyalJet royaljetgroup.com

AVIATRAX aviatrax.com

Inmarsat inmarsat.com

Satcom Direct satcomdirect.com

Avinode avinode.com

Iridium iridium.com

Signature Flight Support signatureflight.com

Bombardier bombardier.com

Jet Aviation jetaviation.com

Stallion51 stallion51.com

Cessna cessna.com

JetBed jet-bed.com

Titan Aviation titanaviation.aero

Comlux Aviation comluxaviation.com

MEBAA mebaa.com

Vector Aerospace vectoraerospace.com

Dassault Falcon dassaultfalcon.com

flycorporate.com

12 EMEA & Asia

FC UPFRONT: MEMO

Perfectly Positioned for Growth We dedicate the Market Focus in this issue to a region of enormous potential – well it is three regions actually, although they always seem to be grouped together. I am talking about the Middle East, Africa and India.

The Middle East has always fascinated me and I studied the airport and airline market there for many years in previous roles before joining FlyCorporate; so it is interesting to see how business aviation is taking the same positive path in terms of growth and expansion.

Investment is strong, potential is high, and the once small buds are now blooming.

I particularly enjoyed catching up with Qatar Executive’s Akbar Al Baker. Having met with this dynamic and ambitious CEO many times before during the rise of Qatar Airways and Doha Airport, it is refreshing to hear his positive take on the market and how the Middle East is perfectly positioned to serve the global business aviation customer.

We feature Cabin IFE and Satcom in one of our Sector Focus reports this issue – looking at the latest options on the market and following up some of the most recent launches announced at NBAA. Be sure to check our digital version of this issue to benefit from the bonus editorial features in this and other sections.

While we’re on the subject of digital, I would like to remind you that you can subscribe to our digital magazine free of charge. Here you will have access to additional interviews, images and information, exclusive to the digital issue.

And what better way to end this memo than with a positive note… FlyCorporate is extending its Marketing Communications division in 2013. Our team of expert marketers, creatives, writers, researchers and designers have worked with many business aviation clients over the years and we are now expanding our services and growing our team of experts. So, if you need additional support for your company’s Marcoms, tailored to business aviation, give me a call and we can discuss the options. Remember FlyCorporate is more than a magazine – we are your partner in business aviation and the future is looking good!

See you in Dubai!

Diana Albiol Editorial and Publishing Director FlyCorporate EMEA & Asia diana.albiol@flycorporate.com

@FlyCorporate

14 EMEA & Asia

FC UPFRONT

NEWS ANALYSIS: Upset Recovery Training for Bizjets

F

lorida-based Stallion 51, which has 25 years of experience in training owners of P-51 Mustang fighters, has announced its innovative UAT programme to bring new skills to corporate pilots. By Rod Simpson.

The new FAA-approved UAT (Unusual Attitudes Training) course takes pilots out of their familiar training simulator into the cockpit of a Mustang or a Czech-built L-39 jet trainer to experience extreme manoeuvres and gain vital skills which could save the lives of themselves and their corporate passengers. According to Stallion 51’s Lee Lauderback, “recurrent training becomes very routine and continual repetition of familiar drills adds little to a pilot’s store of experience. What we want to do is to stretch their knowledge with experience that takes them right out of the envelope of their normal routine. We want to condition their reactions so that they will make the right judgment on the rare occasion that they get into a dangerous situation”.

The two-day course includes a session from UAT’s Resident Physician, Dr. William T. Busch, on human factors and spatial disorientation, explaining how a pilot can overcome some of these sensations. Lauderback points out that “the majority of pilots will encounter some sort of unusual or inadvertent attitude situation. Statistics show that 10-15% of all fatal aircraft accidents are attributed to spatial disorientation and 90% of spatial orientation accidents are fatal”.

There are then ground training sessions for VFR and IFR flights including consideration of Zero-G, the problems of asymmetrical airframe loading and optimum recovery techniques before students move on to the two-part (VFR and IFR) flying

section of the course. Stallion 51’s two tandem-seat TF-51 Mustangs have been joined by an L-39 which has undergone a complete upgrade with a Garmin EFIS glass cockpit to make it very familiar to pilots flying modern corporate jets.

Cameras in the cockpit and on the tail video every sortie so that there can be a de-brief afterwards allowing the student to compare his reactions in the cockpit with the actual performance of the aircraft.

“We do encourage pilots to come to the course in small groups,” explains Lauderback “because this allows them to learn from each other.” The UAT course costs $7,500 for each student and they each get an appropriate certificate at the end of the course. “We are already well booked up with delegates from several leading flight departments, with courses starting in January,” says Lauderback “and this programme has gained much interest from insurance companies who, we are sure, will take account of the high quality training when setting insurance premiums. We believe this course definitely raises the bar for pilots who fly for a living.”

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FC UPFRONT

NEWS ANALYSIS: Hawker Beechcraft’s Fate Remains Uncertain

H

awker Beechcraft Chairman, Bill Boisture updated the media at the NBAA convention recently in Orlando, giving limited details on the company’s outlook after bankruptcy, plans to exit the jets business and future direction. Yet as Cameron Heffernan explains, a lot more remains unanswered, including how the company will handle some warranties and their future focus.

With more than 6,000 employees globally, net sales of $2.44 billion in 2011, and the heritage that comes with being an aviation pioneer in their eighth decade, it’s no exaggeration to describe Kansas-based Hawker Beechcraft as one of the most respected aviation companies on the planet. However, when a player of that size and scope declares bankruptcy, it’s safe to say there is concern in the industry – not least from the hundreds or even thousands who could lose their jobs.

It was amid this backdrop that Hawker Chairman Corporation (HBC) Bill Boisture addressed the media recently at the NBAA convention in Orlando. A standing-room-only crowd gathered to hear Boisture’s comments about the company’s plans and address the rumours that had been circulating rampantly for weeks since Chinese company Superior Aviation’s bid to acquire HBC fell apart, due largely to concerns from the Government in Beijing, an entity that was to be a principal backer of the transaction.

Superior even went so far as to forfeit a $50 million deposit just to have a close look at HBC’s books, not to mention millions in legal fees. Boisture covered a lot at the press conference, including that HBC would shed $2.5 billion in debt through its bankruptcy proceedings and emerge as the standalone Beechcraft Corp. around the end of January, 2013. HBC would still try to find a buyer for its jets business, with the new Beechcraft to focus exclusively on turboprop, piston, special mission and trainer/ attack aircraft businesses.

Subsequently, the company announced it would be closing its services facilities in Arkansas, Texas and Arizona, eliminating some 400 jobs in the process.

What Next?

These developments raised many more questions, of course. Chief among them was the future of maintenance on the Hawker 4000 and Premier IA, as the company announced they were cancelling warranties on these aircraft at the end of October 2012. Hawker said they were seeking other companies to provide alternatives for service and maintenance for the aircraft, but nothing was finalised.

We put the warranty question, as well as the issue of the company’s plans to sell their jets business, to Shawn Vick, Executive Vice President, Customers with HBC. He said the company is “in discussions with several third-party companies regarding [service and maintenance] alternatives for the Hawker lines, including possible sales of those lines, and are working to reach an agreement on terms that would ensure that customers continue to receive service and maintenance for their Hawker aircraft.”

He added that the future “could include a closure of the entire jet business if no satisfactory bids are received.”

HBC still plans to emerge from Chapter 11 in Q1 2013, but Vick would not comment further on the status of any talks with prospective buyers.

As for future plans, Vick stated that the new company’s five-year plan includes growth from six to as many as 10 products, with the entire Beechcraft line becoming Jet-A fuel capable (safer handling than traditional aviation fuels).

“Our investment in new product development prepares us for annual sales and production rates of as much as 600 aircraft per year,” Vick said.

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FC UPFRONT

OPINION: by oliver King, managing director, Avinode

T

echnology, Geography and the Rise of Turkey: Standing in Coconut Grove, Miami recently, I was reminded of how geography shaped the nascent aviation industry.

A white hanger is almost all that remains of the Pan American Seaplane base from which Commodore flying planes operated their Miami to Buenos Aires route in the early ‘30s. Though it seems unlikely today, it was just 150 miles from here, in the Florida Keys, that geography and aircraft range combined to give birth to this aviation giant.

Over 80 years later geography continues to play a role in the aviation business. Recently Qantas decided to ditch their long-term relationship with British Airways and seek instead to form a strategic alliance with Emirates. The reason?

Geography. Non-stop flights from London to Sydney with a full load of passengers and cargo are simply beyond the range of today’s commercial aircraft.

During the last 15 years, Emirates has led the push to usurp Singapore and turn the Gulf States into the natural stepping-stone between west and east. This has been a remarkably successful story, in which geography and airplane performance have turned a desert into an aviation oasis.

For the business aviation sector the story has been different, and has, to date, reflected a number of other factors. The segment is still young. New business jet deliveries into the region spiked in the mid ‘00s as first-time owners began to receive their aircraft. The industry continues to mature as demand emerges from private, corporate and charter customers, and there are business jet operators in the region looking to emulate the success story their commercial siblings have enjoyed. However, while geography may have worked for the Gulf States’ airlines it may not be the same for this sector, particularly with the emergence of Turkey as a hub contender.

The growth of Turkey as a business aviation hub still causes some surprise in the industry, but over the last four years a steady flow of deliveries and movements into the country has driven growth. While European business jet activity is down over 3% this year to date, Turkey has increased by almost 6% in comparison to 2011. This growth is mainly driven by domestic travel, which has increased almost 9%. International movements, meanwhile, are up almost 4%. It appears that economic growth will continue to power domestic demand in 2013.

The domestic business jet market is very large in Turkey and accounts for around 60% of all departures and arrivals, indicating that the country, which covers an extended geographical area, has poorly developed infrastructure and domestic travel connections.

International travel patterns via Turkey also speak to the importance of geography with demand flowing between Europe, Russia, Africa and the Middle East. Germany, Russia, Italy, the UK, UAE, Ukraine and Saudi Arabia, specifically, and are all among the top-ten arrival countries for international flights departing Turkey. These countries cover 1.5% to 3.5% of all departures per country, indicating a fairly even spread of traffic from different parts of the world.

The Turkish business jet sector does not, therefore rely on traffic between single areas but instead has a healthy spread between different regions and different countries. In other words, it has become a geographic hub.

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20 EMEA & Asia

FC UPFRONT

ASK AN EXPERT: WHY Does Bio Fuel make good business sense for business aviation?

T

he business aviation industry is seeking costcompetitive, high-grade and sustainable green jet fuel, and the biofuel sector needs to deliver fast. Biofuel producers need to focus on building scalable fuel factories to produce green jet fuel. This new-generation oil must offer a cost-competitive solution while reducing carbon emissions.

By Roger Stroud Executive Chairman Algae.Tec

There are a variety of fuel-growing approaches on the market, many of which face challenges around the amount of land and water required, contamination, food displacement and, ultimately, cost and sustainability. One approach that best addresses these issues uses an engineered algae growth system to produce jet fuel.

OEMs, operators and engine manufacturers are all making a serious commitment to support the development of a new sustainable fuel source that will enable the future growth of global business aviation, while reducing costs and carbon emissions.

The adoption of fuel from advanced biofuels makes environmental and economic sense. For businesses, flying on biofuel is a way to demonstrate their leadership in reducing carbon emissions and promoting more environmentally sustainable forms of travel at both the individual and company level.

Aviation biofuel has come a long way in a relatively short period of time and has clearly demonstrated its technical capability and reliability as an alternative fuel source.

It is being embraced by a business aviation industry that sees biofuels as critical to its future growth against a backdrop of higher fossil fuel costs, greater government regulation to reduce carbon emissions, and a growing public expectation that industry will deliver meaningful reductions in carbon emissions.

The aviation industry currently consumes around 220 billion litres of fossilderived-fuel per annum. Strong growth is forecast for business aviation in the future, particularly in regions such as Asia and the Middle East. In Asia Pacific alone, the number of flight hours within business aviation grew 6% this year over last year. While this growth will continue in the future, the global aviation industry has set itself the target of cutting its net carbon emissions by 50% by 2050.

Business aviation as an industry needs to be mindful to keep pace with carbon reduction efforts from the larger aviation industry on the whole.

21

FC UPFRONT

Algae presents several advantages over other feedstocks and is attracting particularly strong interest for its potential as a future business aviation fuel source.

Algae is a sustainable fuel source that does not lead to the displacement of food to make way for crops for biofuels. Advanced photo-bioreactor growth technology requires up to one tenth the area needed to grow algae in ponds, and a tiny fraction of the area needed for other feedstocks such as jatropha or canola oils.

Additionally, this production process consumes carbon dioxide, further strengthening its environmental sustainability. For example, our company’s demonstration facility at Nowra on the south coast of Australia near Sydney is connected to a manufacturing facility that provides the CO2 for the algae growth process. This waste by-product CO2 would otherwise have been released into the atmosphere.

Algae can be grown virtually anywhere, offering the potential for producing aviation fuel near key markets, offering major efficiencies in fuel supply logistics.

The ability to produce algae in a wide variety of locations also reduces the political and economic risk associated with other fossil fuel sources. Algae solutions offer a sustainable, renewable, fast-growing, and independent fuel option for the business aviation industry.

There is interest in biofuels across the business aviation industry. Last year, a Gulfstream G450 became the first business jet to complete a trans-Atlantic crossing using a biofuel blend. And at this year’s National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) convention, five Gulfstream aircraft conducted demonstration flights from the company’s headquarters in Savannah, Ga., to Orlando, Fla., for the tradeshow.

Both engines of the aircraft were powered by a 50/50 blend of Honeywell Green Jet Fuel and petroleum-derived jet fuel. The renewable fuel was made with natural oils from camelina, an inedible plant that grows in conditions where other food crops cannot. This marked the first time Gulfstream’s entire fleet had flown on renewable jet fuel.

The growth of biofuels within the business aviation sector is taking off, and the industry is on track to help realise significant cost savings, achieve certainty of supply and reduce carbon emissions.

Roger Stroud Executive Chairman Algae.Tec algaetec.com.au

Algae.Tec Ltd., founded in 2007, is an Australian advanced renewable oil-from-algae company that has developed a high-yield enclosed algae growth and harvesting system, the McConchie-Stroud System. The company has offices in Atlanta, Georgia and Perth, Western Australia.

The Algae.Tec enclosed modular engineered technology is designed to grow non-GMO algae on an industrial scale, and produce biofuels that replace predominantly imported fossil fuels.

The technology has demonstrated exceptional performance in productivity, product yield, carbon dioxide sequestration, and production unit footprint requirements versus agricultural crops and other competitive algae processes in the industry.

Algae.Tec offers a profitable solution for carbon-emitting companies and industries seeking carbon dioxide reduction technologies. The algae growth system is an alternative to carbon capture.

The Algae.Tec solution is less than one-tenth the land footprint of pond growth options, while its enclosed module system is designed to deliver the highest yield of algae per hectare, and solves the problem of foodproducing land being turned over for biofuel production.

Interview

Jean Rosanvallon President and CEO Dassault Falcon

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FC INTERVIEW

J

ean Rosanvallon, President and CEO of Dassault Falcon, has spent more than 37 years with the French manufacturer, during which time he has experienced markets robust and weak. He sat down to talk with FlyCorporate’s Cameron Heffernan to share some insight into why the company takes a long-term view towards R&D, no matter the economic climate, and how new releases such as the forthcoming super-midsize should only be judged a decade down the runway.

You recently said that the best keyword to describe the business aviation market is “uncertainty”. In what ways is the recently announced Falcon Dassault 2000LXS the right aircraft for today’s uncertain market that we are in?

Today there is a difference between the short-term market trends on one hand, and what we need to do long-term as an OEM to position our product line on the other. So if you consider, for instance, a programme like the SMS [Falcon’s super-midsize, scheduled for first flight in 2014], the decision was in line with what will be the future of Falcon, which will be announced in more detail in 2013. We made the decision to launch the airplane about two years ago. And two years ago the market was even more uncertain in that we were already at the bottom of the financial crisis. At that time, things had not really started to recover yet. So when you look at the programme for a new product line, you need to take a very long-term view. The [research and development] alone usually takes at least five years before you can bring it to market and beyond that, the entire product is at least a 20-year experience. So for the LXS, which is just an evolution of the current LX model, we have to make all the decisions independently of the short-term market environment today in the US and Europe. It’s a little too early of course after the US election to see what affect that might have on the uncertainty.

You mentioned Falcon’s SMS (super-midsize) aircraft; the latest we heard about it was first flight in 2014 and certification in 2016. What are your expectations for the aircraft and how will you measure its success?

Some successes you really only measure more than ten years after you have made the decision. If I look back at the Falcon 7X – we announced it in 2001 at the Paris Air Show – it has been over ten years and we’ll soon have delivered some 200 airplanes, so we see success there. I think to truly measure success in this business takes about ten years. The first five years is about bringing the airplane to the market and that’s why we started deliveries in 2007. And now five years later and having delivered all these planes and being at the backlog we have and the market reaction to the 7X, I think we can say today that the Falcon 7X has been and continues to be a great success for Dassault. And I think for the SMS, we obviously are very excited to bring a brand new Falcon to the market. To measure the success there should also be about ten years.

24 EMEA & Asia

FC INTERVIEW

Is it fair to say that bigger-picture trends of what the market wants with respect to new aircraft, like the Falcon 2000LXS, are more important than trying to respond quickly because your production lead time is so great?

Yes, but for the 2000LXS we’ll start deliveries in just a little more than one year. It’s a short timeframe to react pretty quickly.

As a manufacturer, how do you balance the need to continuously invest in research and development with the economic need to keep costs down under current market conditions?

I think we are very fortunate that Dassault is well-managed and has been consistently generating a good profit, so that gives us independence and the ability, even when we are in a downturn, to invest in the future and think long-term. We have not slowed down our R&D at all during the downturn because of our solid financial situation and because we have the full support of our majority shareholders and Mr. Dassault to take the long-term view.

How would you describe Dassault’s position as an OEM in the business aviation marketplace? How do you fit into that landscape?

We will observe next year the 50th anniversary of the first flight of the Falcon 20. So, certainly I think that we’re one of the very long-term players in the business. We’re also kind of unique in that nobody else does the type of advanced leadtime military fighter development that we do in parallel with our development within business aviation. That has allowed us to benefit from all the advances from military technology and adapt that into a trademark of the Falcon. One famous example, of course, is in the digital flight control system. I think that contributes to our reputation. There are a lot of pilots around the world who have flown the Falcon and other types of airplanes. I think if we did a survey, over 99% of the people we would survey would say that the Falcon is the best-flying airplane. What we have found, increasingly, is that the best positioning for us is not in the small- or the medium-sized market, but in the large-cabin and long-range airplanes. And as we have seen in the most recent Honeywell survey, which was discussed at NBAA [Convention in Orlando] recently, is that the large aircraft segment is really almost 70% of the total business jet market in terms of value.

25

FC INTERVIEW

For the 2000LXS we’ll start deliveries in just a little more than one year. It’s a short timeframe to react pretty quickly

Falcon 2000LXS

26 EMEA & Asia

FC INTERVIEW Looking at the soon-to-be-released Falcon 2000S, available next year, what are your market expectations for that aircraft in the coming years?

We produced this new version of the Falcon 2000 family in 2011 when the market recovery was still very slow. We had the programme start slowly but we have had a very good acceleration during 2012. We have sold out all of our 2013 production. And what’s very important for us also is that we have been able to validate our initial assumption that the Falcon 2000S would not cannibalise any of our Falcon 2000LX market.

And I can say that there is not a single sale of a Falcon 2000S that was done in competition with the 2000LX concept. Each time when we compete, we compete with the other super-midsized airplanes, which are a little smaller, a little cheaper – in particular the Challenger 300 and the Gulfstream 280.

One can’t help but feel that Dassault still feels very much like a family business. How is that sentiment manifested internally throughout the company?

I think this family feeling starts with our shareholders. For example, it is very important to Serge Dassault to come to each NBAA; we reminded people this year that his first NBAA was in 1962 – almost exactly 50 years ago (see “New Falcon 2000s on the Runway and Horizon,” page 27). We are the only large aerospace company in the world still owned by the founding family. So I think that’s the first point. Number two, it’s true that over the years the management of Dassault has been able to keep that special motivation internally. We all try hard. I think our customers, in turn, have that feeling that they belong to the Falcon family. That’s more than words. Finally, if you look today within Dassault, you have a very large number of people

Falcon Global 2000LXS 6000

who have done their whole career with the company. I’m one example of that. My first job was 37 years ago with Dassault and over 37 years later I’m still here. And that’s true whether you look at the engineering department, at production, at sales – in all areas of the company there is strong loyalty.

Maybe you’ll finish your career there?

I think there’s a good chance.

You have served on the board of trustees of EmbryRiddle Aeronautical University in the US since 2008.

Why is that important to you to be involved with connecting to the next generation of talent as they enter the industry?

I think there are two main reasons. The most important, I would say, has to do again with maintaining that long-term vision. With Embry-Riddle being the number one aerospace university in the US, it only makes sense that the name of Dassault needs to be present. And we have some research projects going on with the Dean of Engineering [Dean Maj Mirmirani]. I think that you’re always interested in finding young talent and putting the name of Dassault in front of these people. It is very important for the company in terms of helping us recruit the best talent available.

Dassault is also very active in France and in Europe for the same reason, working with the best universities. The second reason is that the board of trustees itself is 15 to 20 people with great backgrounds – there is a lady astronaut; there is a four-star Air Force General; there are several successful CEOs. Some of them are flying Falcon, in particular. I think that when you look at these two things, those are good reasons to give a little bit of time to a University as good Embry-Riddle.

27

FC INTERVIEW

New Falcon 2000s on the Runway and Horizon It was Serge Dassault who attended the 1962 NBAA conference in Pittsburgh, to investigate the potential market for the Falcon 20 (then still named the Mystere 20). He had just a small-scale model to show, but it was sufficient to convince people that Dassault could play a leading role in a very young business jet market.

Fifty years after those humble beginnings, as the Falcon fleet nears 2,000 aircraft in service, Dassault again took the occasion of the annual NBAA conference to update the industry on its 2000-series aircraft, the company’s second-best seller to the Falcon 7X and the segment that will see the biggest shakeup in coming years. The Falcon 2000S will complete certification early in 2013 before entering service. It’s equipped with inboard slats and winglets that help reduce landing speed and, combined with a unique auto-braking system, enable the aircraft to access shorter runways in comparison to other aircraft of its class (Falcon’s testing shows the plane requires little more runway length than turboprops).

The recently unveiled Falcon 2000LXS will eventually replace Falcon’s 2000LX aircraft when it becomes available in 2014. The Falcon 2000LXS’ range of 4,000nm improves on that of the 2000S by 650nm. Dassault achieved some impressive engineering to attain that extended range without compromising on payload capacity, cruise or short-field performance (landing distance of 2,260ft or 689m). TheLXS will be equipped with the same inboard slats, the same greener engines and soundproofing packages that were developed for the S version. To further reduce weight on the LXS, Dassault trimmed a full 300 pounds on structural parts and engineering and 100lbs on completion items. (136kg and 45kg, respectively).

The recently unveiled Falcon 2000LXS will eventually replace Falcon’s 2000LX aircraft Jean Rosanvallon – A Four Decade Legacy with Dassault Jean Rosanvallon’s bio and CV reads like a who’s who of business aviation (or maybe a “c’est qui ça”). A member of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Rosanvallon is also the first non-US citizen to serve as Chairman of the Board of the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA); he is also a board member of the French-American Chamber of Commerce in New York, and a Chevalier of both the French “Légion d’Honneur” and “Ordre National du Mérite.”

Rosanvallon began his career with Dassault Aviation in 1975, after graduating from France’s prestigious business school, Hautes Études Commerciales in 1974. He was initially responsible for coordinating Dassault’s business jet programmes between its Paris headquarters and its US subsidiary, Falcon Jet Corp., which was then a joint venture between Pan-American World Airways and Dassault Aviation.

Rosanvallon was named President of Falcon business jets in 1996, before being named President and Chief Executive Officer of Dassault Falcon Jet and Executive Vice President, Civil Aircraft of Dassault Aviation in 2003. He has split much of the past three decades between Paris and New York, currently residing in New York City with his wife and three children.

28 EMEA & Asia

MARKET FOCUS: MIDDLE EAST, AFRICA, INDIA

Regions of

Distinction T

he Middle East, India, and Africa: three distinctly different regions with distinct promise for business aviation. Everyone talks about these regions as emerging markets – along with Russia and China – the race is on to see where the next opportunities lie.

The general sentiment is that the potential for growth in each of these regions is developing at Mach speed.

By Ciel Jolley.

“Looking to the next five to ten years, the light and mid-size jet market will grow substantially in the Middle East, although wide-cabin aircraft will continue to lead the market”

“The Middle East has always been an incredibly important market for us” Middle East 2011 brought the Arab Spring and a market slowdown in the Middle East, but the bigger fear of total collapse never materialised. With the dust now somewhat settled, the bizav industry in the region is resuming strong growth – but it’s still in its infancy. In countries where the political manifestations were most intense – Egypt, Yemen, Syria – business aviation is yet to play a major role; in others, where bizav has been more prevalent – UAE, Qatar, Bahrain – flight activity was generally stable or even increased, with people shifting from conflict zones to more secure areas. Movements, by the end of 2012, are expected to be 10% up from 2011.

In the Gulf states, oil production, exports, and government spending will continue to bolster overall activity in the region, and as inter-Middle East communication improves and travel increases, so does business aviation. There are currently 500 aircraft officially registered within the Middle East and North

Africa (MENA) region, and this is expected to increase by approximately 800 additional deliveries by 2020.

Although it was probably the OEMs that suffered most during the 2011 slowdown, the situation never became dire, and when FlyCorporate recently spoke to major OEMs, all agreed that this is an important region for their business, with rapid expansion anticipated. And the common note sung was for long-range aircraft.

“The Middle East has always been an incredibly important market for us,” said Bob Horner, Senior Vice President of Sales at Bombardier. “It’s one that maybe had a slight storm, with what went on last year with the crisis there, but there are fundamental markets in the Middle East which remain unchanged.” The Global Express, ultra long-range jet, has been successful here and Horner adds, “In the Middle East there is always the top product offering.”

30 EMEA & Asia

MARKET FOCUS: MIDDLE EAST, AFRICA, INDIA When FlyCorporate spoke to Embraer’s president, Ernie Edwards, at the NBAA convention in the US in October, he had just received news of a second contract for the month for Legacy. “Sales activity in the Middle East for the Legacy 650 is doing very well; we now have 34 Legacies [in the region].”

Kriya Shortt, Vice President of EMEA Sales for Cessna, agrees, “Looking to the next five to ten years, the lightand mid-size jet market will grow substantially in the Middle East, although wide-cabin aircraft will continue to lead the market.”

The region is seeing not only purchases of high-end assets, but also investments in high-end FBOs and facilities. Many countries in the region still operate with sectors largely managed by the Government, particularly airports and FBOs. But this is changing as opportunities are opening up for new private FBOs. In the UAE, Gama Aviation has opened a new FBO terminal, Sharjah Executive Aircraft Flight Centre, offering a new executive access point to the region,

very near to Dubai (a 20-minute drive or 5-minute helicopter ride).

ExecuJet has experienced growth in this service area in Dubai – the introduction of full ground-handling services at Dubai International Airport, and expansion of the ExecuJet Dubai FBO, with the takeover of the former Executive Flight Services (EFS) terminal. In addition, Mike Berry, Managing Director, ExecuJet Middle East says, “We are also pleased with the progress of our FBO joint venture with NasJet, the private aviation arm of Saudi Arabia’s National Air Services (NAS), at the King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh in Saudi Arabia, which should see us commence operations before the end of 2012.”

On the charter front, Rizon Jet, which also provides maintenance services and has FBO facilities in Doha, has seen an increase in demand of around 38% for its charter services, and recently added a Challenger 605 to its fleet.

“We’ve had positive growth; the trend is upwards,” says CEO, Captain Hassan Al-Mousawi. He suspects that with the increasing demand in the Middle East, the only real challenge will be market competition.

For a region still in its infancy, the Middle East is on steady feet, and is certainly maturing fast

RizonJet Doha

31

MARKET FOCUS: MIDDLE EAST, AFRICA, INDIA For a region where bizav is still a young industry, the Middle East is on steady feet, and maturing fast. “What we are seeing here, after the recent economic disturbances, is a more rational and disciplined approach to acquiring and managing business jets as assets,” says Paras P. Dhamecha, Executive Director of Empire Aviation Group. In terms of future growth, says Dhamecha, there are “specific hotspots in the larger oil-producing countries, such as UAE, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, where we see strong economic growth and investment into aviation infrastructure.”

From the perspective of Ali Al Naqbi, Founding Chairman of the Middle East Business Aviation Association (MEBAA), one shared with most of the industry, when it comes to growth and opportunity in the Middle East, all indicators point upwards. His great concern though, he told FlyCorporate, is schooling. “There are not enough training centres or schools dedicated to business aviation. We have had discussions with the Department of Education to account for training – academic training, in universities and high schools, and they are actually listening. So that is encouraging.”

“We have had discussions with the Department of Education to account for training – academic training, in universities and high schools, and they are actually listening; so that is encouraging.”

Parking Space and Congestion at Airports With all the promise and all these aircraft (registered and unregistered), where does that leave business jets when it comes to landing and parking, when you arrive with three minutes to spare before that important meeting?

Al Bateen executive airport is the only airport in the region exclusively dedicated to business aviation. Other airports in the region catering to business aviation include: Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Jeddah, Kuwait, Bahrain, Marka airport in Jordan, Sharm el sheikh airport in Egypt, and Beirut airport; however, these airports can often be heavily congested, leaving space for bizav extremely limited.

ExecuJet is one service provider struggling for slots in this landscape. “One of our major challenges is congestion at Dubai Airport,” says ExecuJet’s Mike Berry. This congestion is “a direct result of Emirates and FlyDubai expanding and both receiving a number of new aircraft deliveries per month. This congestion means secure parking for general aviation is an issue.”

“Fortunately we have developed an understanding and are working closely with Dubai Airport to find ways to accommodate the traffic flows, which will include migrating general aviation traffic across to the new Dubai World Central (DWC) airport,” adds Berry.

The new DWC is scheduled to become Dubai’s main business airport this year, so that’s a start.

32 EMEA & Asia

MARKET FOCUS: MIDDLE EAST, AFRICA, INDIA

“This future FBO will be one of the most advanced and prestigious facilities of its kind anywhere in the world”

Akbar Al Baker

Global Express XRS – and in May 2012, Akbar Al Baker confirmed plans to purchase Bombardier 7000 / 8000 aircraft to strengthen the fleet.

Qatar Executive stands out from the crowd as a clear leader in business aviation in the Middle East region.

It is no surprise considering Akbar Al Baker is behind the controls. Having already created one of the world’s strongest airlines and an award-winning international airport in Qatar, the CEO of Qatar Executive has the same vision for business aviation services out of Doha, as he tells Diana Albiol.

But the investment does not stop here. Additional focus is also on new facilities at the current Doha International Airport and a new FBO facility at the New International Airport.

“Fuelled by the positive economic climate in the region, the rise of powerful companies and flourishing personal incomes, the demand for private jet travel has significantly increased, and Qatar Executive is experiencing one of its best years since its launch in 2009,” explains Al Baker.

“With Doha being our hub, Qatar Executive is strongly committed to the Qatari and Middle Eastern leisure and business travel community, and is continuously working on enhancing facilities for our discerning customers at Doha International Airport.

The Middle East’s increasing role in international business is fuelling the growing demand for flexible corporate jet travel. This is strengthening Qatar Executive’s position in the region and has given the company reason to make significant investment in the future. At present Qatar Executive operates six jets – three Challenger 605s, two Global 5000s and a

“This future FBO will be one of the most advanced and prestigious facilities of its kind anywhere in the world. The construction of the new FBO facility is expected to be finalised in 2014 / 2015. Until that time, we serve all business jets at our existing FBO facilities at the Doha International Airport,” Al Baker tells FlyCorporate.

33

MARKET FOCUS: MIDDLE EAST, AFRICA, INDIA

Discussing the company’s competitive advantages, Al Baker acknowledges the benefits of being a part of a large and globally recognised airline. “Qatar Executive has to be viewed in the wider context of Qatar Airways’ successful business model,” he explains. “Qatar Airways is one of the few select airlines in the world to operate a private division, and Qatar Executive can leverage on the airline’s global expertise, its network and proven track record.”

The set-up also allows Qatar Executive to make use of cross-selling potential. Qatar Airways’ First and Business Class passengers can transfer onto Qatar Executive jets to their final destinations, which in many cases are not served by scheduled airlines. “We are

looking into expanding globally through tapping into this growth market,” adds Al Baker.

Another strategic asset which sets Qatar Executive apart from its competitors is its ability to leverage on its parent company’s extensive sales and marketing network support worldwide, as well as on the airline’s expertise with aircraft and engine manufacturers, especially beneficial when buying business jets and negotiating warranties and maintenance support.

This company is certainly one to watch and I predict by the time the new airport and FBO facilities are open, Qatar Executive will not just be a frontrunner in the Middle East but in the global market too.

“We are looking into expanding globally through tapping into this growth market”

Qatar Executive Global 5000

35

MARKET FOCUS: MIDDLE EAST, AFRICA, INDIA India India, dubbed ‘the next big thing’ after China, is a lucrative business aviation market. No one doubts the budding growth here, despite past skepticism that the lack of infrastructure may not allow the sector to realise its potential. India was not immune to the global slowdown in 2011, yet the economy is strong, and the Airports Authority of India’s (AAI) intention to reactivate, upgrade, and modernise at least 225 airports by 2020 is encouraging to say the least. AAI is also working on upgrading 35 non-metro airports to handle increased airport traffic.

“India is poised to experience a rapid upswing in the business aviation sector due to its strategic geographic location, favourable demographics and robust economy,” says Dhiraj Mathur, Executive Director and Leader, Aerospace & Defence practice, at PricewaterhouseCoopers India. He attributes increased opportunity in general and business aviation to the rising number of high net-worth individuals and business houses in the country.

There are currently around 800 registered aircraft and 300 helicopters in India, according to The Department of General and Civil Aviation (DGCA); by 2020 this number is expected to reach 1800.

Opportunities and challenges present themselves in equal measure in emerging countries like India. Yet for business aviation, in many instances, the challenges – poor connectivity, lack of infrastructure, unskilled population – are in fact the very elements creating prospects for growth.

Industry players are seeing these prospects and are flying into India accordingly. Dubai’s Empire Aviation Group (EAG) recently invested in a strategic partnership with Airworks India, the country’s second oldest MRO. “EAG has already set up its first branch office in India and is looking to open a second satellite office in the subcontinent very quickly,” said Paras P. Dhamecha, executive director of EAG. Hong Kong-based charter operator Metrojet has also moved in on the Indian scene, signing an agreement with Taj Air to form Taj Air Metro Jet Aviation, set to be operational in Mumbai in early 2013. “Whilst mainland China is growing and everyone is forecasting phenomenal growth in the next 10 years, the same is happening in India,” explains CEO Bjorn Naf. “With double-digit growth, India is a developing area for business aviation. Clients want to have business jets but there is no service there now.”

Starting out as a Part 145 maintenance MRO facility, the plan is to expand into management and aircraft charter in the region.

Titan Aviation Group, present in the Asian and Middle Eastern markets, and operating from various locations in India, has seen progression in the country. “We have three deliveries for 2013 which is a good sign,” says, Capt.

Sakeer C. Sheik, Managing Director. “Our consultancy services are looking good in both markets. We expect this to maintain [a strong position].”

The market here is positive and spirits are high, but not without a downside. One aspect of this is just how long developments will probably take to materialise. Despite the pledged investment, there will still be a huge lack of dedicated business aviation airports and terminals, FBO facilities and heliports (even with plans underway for heliports in Delhi and Mumbai). The most basic forms of connectivity in India, such as roads, need major investment.

Other dampeners are the high taxes and outdated rules, regulations and policies, which don’t take into account the special needs of business aviation, or the benefits the industry can bring to the growing economy.

Aircraft import duty is too high, as are taxes on importing spares and on services. “Import duty at 20% is an irrational tax that affects growth,” says Rohit Kapur of the Business Aircraft Operators Association India, who is working with the Indian Government in order to raise awareness of the issues and to improve conditions.

In India, current and prospective operators want to see more investment in infrastructure and more understanding of the necessity of reducing bureaucratic red tape and taxes. Adding to the tax problem, says Kapur, is the Government’s unrealistic view that business aviation is “really a rich man’s toy. It is a business tool and the Government must view it this way to make policies. The real challenge is to change the perception.”

There are currently around 800 registered aircraft and 300 helicopters in India, by 2020 this number is expected to reach 1800

36 EMEA & Asia

MARKET FOCUS: MIDDLE EAST, AFRICA, INDIA Africa Africa, a continent of 56 countries, operating 200 airports in 47 countries, is the newest region in the spotlight.

Business aviation, having already relatively established itself in Northern Africa and South Africa, is now casting an eye east, west, and centrally, as the natural resources sector drives growth in countries such as Kenya and Mozambique (east), Angola and Nigeria (west), and Sudan and Congo (central).

As a direct result of foreign investment (much from China), as well as from South Africa upwards, in the mining, and oil and gas sectors, consumer power and investment in infrastructure is increasing like never before in the region.

There has been huge growth in retail and property. Shopping malls are moving in and travel is increasing as the region changes. With all this activity and poor general transport infrastructure, airlines cannot keep up; so, according to Ivor Ichikowitz, Vice Chair of the newly formed African Business Aviation Association (AfBAA), “Without business aviation, it is not possible to do business [in Africa].”

The total registered fleet of business aircraft on the continent is 1,308, with South Africa leading the way (with an install base of 578 aircraft). Bombardier forecasts Africa

will receive 800 business jet deliveries during the 2010-2030 period (325 aircraft in the next 10 years, and a further 475 aircraft during the 10 years 2021-2030).

This is a brand new market and basically a clean slate. What is also clear, though: Africa is not without major obstacles, and the main obstacle, it seems, is the time it takes to get things moving and improving.

There is a shortage of qualified human resources, industry experience and know-how, training services and training facilities; lack of safety and security standards across the board; inconsistent and ever-changing rules and regulations; as well as lack of investment and commitment internally, from Governments.

“All the operators here are self-taught,” says Cornelius Bekker, New Development Executive at Africa Flight Investments, in South Africa. Pilots and others qualified for the industry had always been sent to Europe to receive training, but this is slowly changing. “In the last 10 years training in South Africa has been happening in all associated services, but there is still room for vast improvement.”

This is a brand new market and basically a clean slate Africa Flight Investments

37

MARKET FOCUS: MIDDLE EAST, AFRICA, INDIA South Africa also leads the way in established, quality infrastructure in the region; however, Nigeria is considered up and coming, and as Africa’s largest oil exporting economy, is gaining attention and investment, particularly from China.

Evergreen Apple Nigeria (EAN), the country’s first FBO, recently partnered with Florida-based Banyan Air Service to improve FBO and MRO services here through pooled resources, knowledge sharing, and experience transfer. In Lagos, Nigeria, in response to growing demand, ExecuJet has just opened a new FBO facility with MRO and technical support at Mohammed Murtala Airport. Working with a local partner, ExecuJet based the design of the new FBO on their

Cape Town facility, proving that Lagos is a location worthy of similar investment.

At Wilson Airport in Nairobi, Kenya, Phoenix Aviation, the only charter operator in the East African region, has had slow but steady growth of its managed fleet. Ingrid Strahammer, VP of Marketing, told FlyCorporate that “Development in Kenya is always slow due to the nature of the region – lack of infrastructure, bureaucracy, inconsistency and constant changes in regulations causing constant headaches.” She is positive, however, that the new AfBAA will have some influence to help get the industry on track. “Business is stable – with very high-profile clientele, on parallel to companies operating in Europe. Over the past few years the fleet has changed and we have added new jets, including King Airs.”

“We do need a united voice for the region to address the issues that are huge stumbling blocks for us” South Africa: Moving Up Cornelius Bekker, of Johannesburg-based Africa Flight Investments, is one firm believer in the future of business aviation on the African continent. With just two years under its belt, Africa Flight Investments, starting in aviation IT solutions, now offers services including fleet management, charter and training, in addition to its core IT solutions. It is a promising young South African company in the process of expanding into Ethiopia and Congo.

What he has seen is South Africa as a central hub of stability for the region, with possibilities to expand (carefully) into Africa from this vantage point. The region has been volatile for a long time, yet opportunities abound.

Terrain here is difficult and it can be hard to get clearances. Some countries are not easy to get into, due to operational inefficiencies and poor communication. For operators, on entry into some countries, there is the experience of rapidly escalating costs as the authorities clamour to raise funds in order to improve infrastructure quickly and jumpstart their economies.

“We do need a united voice for the region,” Bekker says of the newly formed AfBAA, “to address the issues that are huge stumbling blocks for us.”

His forecast: “Growth is in the countries where the natural resources are located – Mozambique, Namibia, Zambia, Angola and Southern Sudan.” These areas will see exciting rapid developments; however, again, infrastructure and investment will be key.

38 EMEA & Asia

FC REVIEW: AIRCRAFT

Latitude and Longitude

Cessna’s New Direction

Cessna Longtitude

D

uring the recent economic recession, Cessna Aircraft has been one of the hardest hit business jet manufacturers.

In 2007, Cessna delivered 388 business jets - but 2011 saw just 183 leave the Wichita factory. As Rod Simpson reports, for manufacturers of larger aircraft, the impact was not so bad, but Cessna has always specialised in small and mid-sized jets which have felt the full impact of business cutbacks.

Cessna has always specialised in small- and mid-sized jets which have felt the full impact of business cutbacks

39

FC REVIEW: AIRCRAFT

Cessna management, under Cessna President and CEO, Jack Pelton, recognised the need for larger aircraft to give a more balanced product line and unveiled development of the Model 850 Columbus at the 2006 NBAA Convention. This was to be a cleansheet design for a large-cabin aircraft in the same category as the Dassault Falcon 2000 with a 4,000nm (7,408km) range with eight passengers. However, by 2009 it was clear that development costs were unaffordable and the Columbus programme was terminated.

The dilemma facing Pelton’s successor, Scott Ernest, was that Cessna must still move forward and deliver profitability and product innovation but within the budget approved by Cessna’s parent company, Textron. The solution was to do what Cessna does best and develop new aircraft from the company’s existing product line.

The target was still to come up with a 4,000nm intercontinental business jet, but the first step, announced at the 2010 NBAA Convention in Las Vegas, was for a midsize aircraft which Cessna named the Model 680A Citation Latitude. This $15 million aircraft (at 2011 pricing) would be positioned between the existing Citation XLS+ and the Citation Sovereign, but with more range than the XLS+, and would use a completely new fuselage fitted with the Sovereign tail unit. It would also have the Sovereign’s 16-degree swept wing, fitted with the same shallow winglets which have just been introduced on the new version of the Sovereign.

The fuselage ushered in a new design philosophy for Cessna, driven by the knowledge that range, speed and cabin size are the key features of importance to customers. The Citation Latitude’s cabin is nearly as long as the Sovereign’s but it has a flat floor and stand-up 1.83m (6ft) headroom. The cabin width is 1.95m (6ft 3in), which is 16% greater than that of the Sovereign or the XLS+. The result is that passengers will find the cabin has much more space in which to move around with the standard layout consisting of forward club-four seating, two rear seats and a sideways-facing two-seat divan opposite the main door. The interior will be bright and attractive with four large windows on each side, and at the back of the cabin is a well-appointed and fully enclosed restroom with a coat cupboard. Baggage storage is in an externally accessed 2.83cu m (100cu ft) locker in the tail cone and the Latitude will have Honeywell’s RE100 auxiliary power unit.

40 EMEA & Asia

FC REVIEW: AIRCRAFT Not wishing to change more than is necessary, Cessna will fit the Latitude with two Pratt & Whitney Canada PW306D turbofans – which are, essentially, uprated versions of the PW306Cs on the Sovereign with the benefit of longer intervals of 3,000 hours for inspections and 6,000 hours for overhaul. The flight deck of the Latitude will, not surprisingly, take advantage of the improvements developed for the Citation TEN (now reverting to its old Citation X name) with the Cessna Intrinzic system, based on the Garmin 5000 package. It will have two 14-inch LCD PFD screens and a central MFD together with four touchscreen control panels, one beside each pilot and two in the centre console.

The aircraft will be equipped with Garmin’s SVT (Synthetic Vision Technology) and the now normal terrain, traffic and weather capability. Cessna already has orders for 250 aircraft from NetJets and is currently producing components for the prototype. First deliveries are targeted for 2015.

Cessna already has orders for 250 aircraft from NetJets

Cessna Longtitude

Fast forward to May, 2012 and EBACE in Geneva where Cessna publicly unveiled the Citation 800 Longitude. This is not quite the same as the proposed Columbus, which had a somewhat longer and wider cabin – but it has the same range (4,000nm/ 7,408km), the same 2,000lb full-fuel payload and the same 490kt (907km/h) maximum cruising speed. The Longitude will be able to operate out of a 5,400ft (1,646m) runway at maximum takeoff weight and will have a maximum operating ceiling of 45,000ft (13,716m). Cessna is already engaged in wind tunnel testing and expects to fly the prototype in 2016 with deliveries starting in the following year at a competitive unit price of $25.9 million (2012 baseline).

For the Longitude, Cessna engineers have repeated their earlier mix and match formula by using a stretched version of the new Latitude fuselage – but this time with the Citation X’s tail and winglet-equipped 30-degree swept wings with leading-edge slats and five spoiler panels on each side. There will be fly-by-wire systems for the spoilers, rudder and brakes. The Longitude is a handsome aircraft with excellent ramp presence and is the first user of new 11,000lb.s.t. Silvercrest SC-2C turbofans developed

by SNECMA. These promise to deliver 15% lower fuel burn than comparable engines and have very low emissions and noise profiles which are well below Stage 4 requirements.

Cessna Latitude

The Longitude’s flight deck will be virtually identical to that of the Latitude with the same Garmin 5000 avionics and touchscreen controls. The Longitude’s cabin has the same cross section as that of the Latitude but is 1.52m (9ft 7in) longer, giving two club-four seat groups in the main cabin with the forward divan and an optional extra side-facing seat (or a coat cupboard) to the left of the entry door facing the galley. A three-seat divan and entertainment credenza can be substituted for the rear four seats if desired. It also has a cabin-accessible baggage compartment behind the rear restroom. Honeywell is supplying cabin management as part of its overall package of navigation, communications and environmental systems. Its package will provide all-electric CPMS digital cabin pressure control which gives fully automated cabin pressure control and monitoring with an interface to the avionics computer.

They will also supply Honeywell Primus HF-1050 high frequency radios for long-range missions and the LASEREF VI inertial reference navigation system which, it is claimed,

is exceptionally compact and power-efficient, and designed for reduced crew workload. According to Brad Thress, Senior Vice President, Business Jets at Cessna: “We want to make sure that our customers have products available that keep them connected and en route as they take advantage of the extended range capabilities of the Cessna Longitude and Latitude.”

Clearly, the Longitude is not quite as large as the Columbus – but Scott Ernest has indicated that a new large business jet could come from the Chinese partnership with AVIC and it must be presumed this would take Cessna into Gulfstream 550 territory. However, at the 2012 NBAA Convention, Cessna was testing opinion on taking the new large-cabin philosophy of the Latitude and Longitude into its small jets, showing an interesting mockup with a wider stand-up interior. Undoubtedly, the company is determined to fight back and its future product line promises to be exciting and innovative.

Undoubtedly, the company is determined to fight back and its future product line promises to be exciting and innovative

42 EMEA & Asia

SECTOR FOCUS: QUICK CONVERSIONS

Quick

Change for Business

Aircraft I

t is all too easy to assume that every business jet and turboprop is transporting company executives or private owners around their daily appointments. However, the reality is that many of those King Airs, Learjets and Falcons have a much wider role to play. Rod Simpson reports.

Charter companies, particularly, will be called upon to do a lot more than just transporting passengers. Consider the plight of the Frankfurt car factory which runs short of critical parts and can only keep the production line flowing if it gets a box of key components from the supplier in Hamburg. Or

the transplant patient waiting in Paris for an organ sourced from a car crash victim in Toulouse. A chartered business jet is the only practical solution and, with bulky boxes of auto parts or a complex medical container, the ability to change rapidly from passenger seating to a utility role is crucial.

The main focus of these quick-change kits is to reconfigure aircraft between high density seating and a VIP interior

Lufthansa Technik Quick Change VIP Kit

The key to success is the speed with which executive passenger seats can be removed to make space for other equipment, and most seats are mounted on floor tracks and constructed so that quickly-removable fastenings will allow the cabin to be cleared easily. Some operators, particularly those doing aero-medical work, will have to change frequently from one layout to another which causes considerable wear and tear, so these aircraft must be fitted with more resilient interior furnishings that are less prone to damage.

For example, Cessna has recently launched a version of its Citation Sovereign with a quick-change cabin allowing it to be used as a freighter. The main seating can be removed in minutes, and the seat tracks used to hold down specially designed freight boxes which come in different sizes and can be stacked – again using the seat-track mounting system.

Among the large business jets, both the Boeing and Airbus narrow-body aircraft are available with quick-change interiors.

The main focus of these quick-change kits is to reconfigure aircraft between high density seating and a VIP interior – or a mixture of the two. As explained by Jan Grube, Senior Sales

Executive with Lufthansa Technik, “the narrow body Airbus range is very flexible, for operators of aircraft with high density or business class interiors, particularly governmental customers, we are able to deliver an overnight quick-change kit that replaces the forward seating section of the aircraft with an attractive and functional high-quality cabin suitable for VVIP passengers.”

A similar quick-change VIP kit is available from Air France Industries, which can exchange the forward cabin of Boeing 737s or 747s for a luxury interior for seven or eight VIP passengers in 48 hours. Their layout includes high-quality leather and fabric trims, upholstery and carpets, and a state-ofthe-art audio/video system. The package provides a lounge area with a sofa and coffee tables, and a meeting area with four seats and a table together with a private bathroom. Among smaller jets, the Bombardier Challenger 850 is also seen as very suitable for the quick-change treatment. According to Sean Gillespie of Flying Colours Corp., “our JetCorp operation in St. Louis, Missouri is very well positioned to tailor Challenger interiors to the specific needs of our customers including kits to allow rapid switching between high density, utility and VIP roles”.

44 EMEA & Asia

SECTOR FOCUS: QUICK CONVERSIONS Clearly, the major market is governmental customers who will have to operate the aircraft in VVIP configuration for heads of state and senior aides – or may need to have a larger section of the aircraft allocated to staff, journalists and other visitors. On the other hand, such aircraft are frequently called upon at short notice to assist with disaster relief and other emergencies so their cabins may need to be cleared quickly and reorganised to carry freight. Boeing offers the BBJ-C which is a 737-800 with a forward upward-opening 3.56mx 2.45m (13ft 6in x 8ft) cargo door in the forward port fuselage. This versatile model, with six supplementary fuel tanks, has a range of over 5,400nm (10,000km). One operator who uses this variant is Peregrine Point, an FAR Part 125 charter company, based at Alliance Airport, Fort Worth which took delivery of their BBJ-C in October, 2007.

Their Boeing has the flexibility to be switched in less than eight hours from high-density seating or a 43-seat VIP layout to a seven pallet freight system for a 35,000lb load. These BBJ-C aircraft can also be changed to carry military troops or 149 passengers in a high density layout – and even a combination of business class seating and freight.

Quick change interiors are specially relevant for governmental operators. Embraer has delivered ERJ135s and ‘145s to the Brazilian Air Force, the Belgian Air Force and the Royal Thai Air Force and Navy fitted for multiple applications. The Belgian Air Force normally has its Embraers in a VIP layout with a six-passenger forward VIP cabin for government ministers and a rear section with up to 36 seats for journalists and other staff members. However, all these seats, designed by Decrane, can be removed within an hour and the aircraft used wholly or partly for freight.

Alternatively, the forward cabin can be reconfigured for medical work in around four hours with modules to mount either one or three stretchers.

Lufthansa Technik Quick Change VIP Kit

These will be moved on rails from the ambulance into the aircraft where removable medical support units, including defibrillators, transfusion units and dialysis systems have been installed. Other applications for these aircraft include survey and aerial mapping – and also flight inspection and navaid calibration which requires special equipment that can be switched with the standard seating in a matter of hours.

For many aero-medical applications, smaller aircraft such as Learjets and Citations will be used and highly sophisticated kits have been developed for specialised situations. Ralph Braaten, President of Med-Pac of Lake Park, Minnesota explains that “our company has a supplemental type certificate for our Med-Pac 400 quick-change stretcher system for use in a wide range of aircraft from Cessna Caravans and Socata TBM700s to Learjets, Citations and every model of King Air. This unit, which consists of a base module containing all necessary electrics and controls together with an electrical interface kit to fit the aircraft’s systems and a plug-in transport stretcher, can be installed or removed in 15 minutes.” Braaten goes on to explain that “we are very proud of our work in engineering extremely complicated aero-medical modules including an ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation) unit which is fitted into a Learjet 35A operated on behalf of the Arkansas Childrens’ Hospital in Little Rock. This provides patient life support for the most severe forms of acute heart and/ or lung failure, using a pump to move blood out of the body and through an artificial lung to receive oxygen and remove carbon dioxide”.

Finally, the quickest of all conversions is the JetBed, produced

by MacNeil Aviation of Downers Grove, Illinois whose Michael Bosstick told FlyCorporate that “this is the ideal solution for quickly converting a facing seat pair in a business jet or turboprop into an instant bed.” The JetBed consists of an inflatable centre section which fits between the seats and a comfortable mattress that guarantees a good night’s sleep in your King Air, Citation, Gulfstream or Challenger. It is fitted in place in minutes and, when not in use, packs into the space of a small suitcase. Truly the ideal quick conversion!

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FBO l Maintenance l Aircraft Management l Charter Flight Support l Completions & Refurbishment l Staffing

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SECTOR FOCUS: CABIN IFE

Up, Up but Not Completely Away L

et’s face it – the stakes are a lot higher in the air.

When you’re accustomed to dealing with state-of-theart aircraft that people have invested millions of dollars in, expectations start a little higher and the customer experience is paramount: from the in-cabin lighting to catering, from the upholstery to the cabin controls. Nowhere else is this more true than with In-Flight entertainment (IFE) and satellite communications (satcom). Cameron Heffernan takes a look at some of the latest and greatest products and services for staying entertained and connected onboard.

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SECTOR FOCUS: CABIN IFE There is a sentiment that when you’ve made a substantial investment into your aircraft, having a window of downtime with substandard audio/video entertainment and connectivity is simply unacceptable. This said, manufacturers are working hard these days to create products that are not exorbitantly expensive (airtime costs for satcom systems can run into tens of thousands of dollars per month, a lot even for high-net-worth individuals), offer a wide range of features and come close to replicating the same type of experience you would find on the ground? We decided to take a closer look and ascertain the extent to which they are succeeding. To manage the scope, we focused on products and services that were recently release or updated, including many we saw at the NBAA Convention in Orlando, including the latest from the satellite networks themselves.

In-Flight Entertainment You can’t enter this discussion nowadays without commencing with Skybox, the new gamechanger from avionics company Rockwell Collins. The much-anticipated product was unveiled at the NBAA Conference in Orlando in October, 2012, and it hasn’t disappointed. Delivering full digital rights management (DRM)-legal multimedia Apple content in the air, Skybox is currently only available on Falcon Dassault aircraft (they call it the Falcon Cabin HD+).

We boarded a Falcon 900LX at the Orlando Executive Airport to put the system through its paces. The easiest way to describe and understand Skybox is to think of it as Apple iTunes in the air – on steroids. The system not only allows you to access the same Hollywood-legal iTunes Libraries

as you would on the ground (your own, those of your passengers or based on onboard selections) it also ties into Rockwell’s Cabin Management System and their Airshow app, which provides a full panoramic view from atop the aircraft.

This means you can control not only the media you want to view or listen to on your own iPad or the bulkhead in highdefinition, you can also direct the in-cabin lighting and adjust the temperature from the comfort of your seat. It all takes place courtesy of the Cabin Remote, which you can access on your iPad or one of several fixed touchscreen control switches.

As for the media itself, you have several options. Owners/ operators can choose to have favorites pre-loaded – movies, TV shows, music, books (as if!) – onto the Skybox onboard (up to 1TB), or transfer media from iTunes via another onboard device – laptop, iPhone, iPad or USB stick. This means you could use Skybox to view a corporate presentation or even conduct video chat via iChat, Skype or any other standard out-of-the-box application.

Skybox comes in 5-user and 10-user flavours (licences), according to the number of passengers onboard you’re anticipating (with two of the licences allotted to the two onboard high-def monitors with the Falcon Cabin HD+). The 5-user version costs $25,000 and the 10-user model comes in at $35,000. Rockwell Collins is exploring possible future plans to extend Skybox to Android and other platforms, but nothing has been finalised.

Note: For more In Flight entertainment, see our digital edition

The easiest way to describe and understand Skybox is to think of it as Apple iTunes in the air – on steroids

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SECTOR FOCUS: CABIN IFE SatCom Options to Keep You in Touch Satellite (and non-satellite) communication options provide passengers, pilots and crew with the ability to send and receive email, phone calls, faxes and SMS messages; browse the web; connect to the ground for safety services; and even stream media (very expensive). Speeds can vary immensely, as Kevin Finegan, VP of Operations with Satcom Direct explains, using the example of Inmarsat SwiftBroadband, which delivers two-way voice, fax and data: “SwiftBroadband offers a shared connection with speeds up to 432Kbps. But when paired with Satcom Direct’s AeroX, the speed increases anywhere from 100% to 400%. AeroX is a patent-pending service that compresses data and creates a more efficient use of bandwidth, [allowing] business jet professionals to send and receive greater amounts of data in shorter amounts of time while in flight, thus getting business done in less time,” Finegan added.

Hardware Wares The recently released ARINC Direct Connect onboard communication is a triple-threat that allows in-air phone calls, provides support for ACARS messaging and data, and delivers email and texting connectivity in one portable device that sits onboard. The ARINC Direct Connect box (roughly the size of an overgrown router) weighs about 5lb (2.3kg), runs on Iridium or Inmarsat satellite networks and integrates completely into existing ARINC Direct iPad applications that provide flight deck functionality such as flight plans, weather, charts and airport info.

Naturally you’d need an onboard antenna to connect to the satellite networks.

Next, for the Datalink connection, the system would effectively allow you to replace your ACARS unit for plane-to-ground communication, including graphical weather, flight plan uplinks, clearances, free-text messaging and the like, which could be a big cost saving (as an in-flight-deck unit could cost upward of $100,000).

This feature makes the system more robust than some alternatives that only focus on cabin connectivity and omit the safety services.

Finally, the unit’s email capabilities would allow users running standard email clients (POP3/IMAP, Microsoft Exchange, Blackberry) to send and receive text-only email messages. Attachments would choke the 2,400-baud system, thus are not supported. The system also supports standard text messaging.

Bob Richard, ARINC Direct Senior Director, says the new system enables users to re-purpose “personal electronic devices such as iPads and Smartphones along with a relatively inexpensive portable device to deliver so much functionality to both the flight deck and the cabin [that it will disrupt] the status quo in aviation communications.

We believe this has great applicability in the small- to medium-jet market, as well as the used-aircraft market.”

AeroX is a patent-pending service that compresses data and creates a more efficient use of bandwidth

The system has two channels, so it supports simultaneous voice and data or two voice calls at once. The system becomes available in the first quarter of 2013 with an anticipated standard retail price of $25,000, according to Bob Richard from ARINC. He said the company expects to sell around 1,000 units in the first year. Currently the system is only available for retrofits and ARINC has not yet approached OEMs for their interest, but may do so in the future.

Let’s take a closer look by function at what the device can do. Individuals in the cabin or cockpit could use their Apple iPhone or Android device to make phone calls globally, including over water. The connection between the phone and the Direct Connect box runs by voice-over IP (VOIP).

To connect, users simply download and install an iTunes or Google Play app and then they’re ready to talk.

The Networks – A Roundup Getting accurate, “apples-to-apples” details on the satellite networks is no easy feat. For one thing, some providers can’t give pricing because all packages are offered via their network of partners. Second, the technology is rapidly changing, with multiple packages, services and options available for today’s business aviation user. We tried to focus on those most suitable for BizAv, with the knowledge that prices are fluid and value-added resellers deliver different packages based on the needs of their customers. Speed also varies tremendously, depending on the network, provider and bundle you deploy. So consider the information below as the best we were able to obtain that the various networks provided us, and know that “your actual mileage may vary…”

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SECTOR FOCUS: CABIN IFE Iridium • The Basics: Iridium operates over an L-band lowearth-orbit satellite network with interconnected Kaband links to deliver voice and data services globally; uses voice channel for data at speeds up to 128Kbps.

• Coverage: Global, including over water • Speeds: Through their aviation broadband service, Iridium OpenPort Aero, the maximum upload/ download speed (at the network level) is 128Kbps, averaging between 80-100Kbps. Using their built-in compression, users can experience a maximum of about 500Kbps, with an average of 200-250Kbps.

• Pricing: Pricing available via partner providers; Iridium doesn’t offer any unlimited usage plans now; they offer bundled usage plans to support fleets of aircraft with discounts up to 20%.

• Extras: The Iridium network can be used as a safety service system between the pilots and the ground.

• Future: The company plans to start deploying Iridium NEXT, its next-generation worldwide network of telecoms satellites in early 2015. The company says that Iridium NEXT will provide L-band data speeds of up to 1.5 Megabits per second.

Inmarsat • The Basics: The network was launched as a commercial entity in 1999 (after spinning off from an inter-governmental organisation after 20 years); current network comprises 10 satellites operating in geosynchronous orbit about 22,000mi (35,000km) above earth.

• Coverage: global, including over water, except over polar region high latitudes (some 98% of the world’s population, according to Inmarsat).

• Speeds: Inmarsat’s SwiftBroadband service currently offers data rates of up to 432Kbps per channel, with up to four simultaneous 432Kb per second (Kbps) channels allowed per aircraft, according to the company. Inmarsat is implementing a SwiftBroadband enhancement in 2013 that will increase data throughput to 700-800Kbps per channel, with two of these High Data Rate channels allowed per aircraft.

• Pricing: All package options are provided by Inmarsat’s provider partners.

• Extras: Inmarsat’s Classic Aero service supports safety services (ATS/AOC datalink connectivity); they plan to add the same capability to their IP-based SwiftBroadband service.

• Future: The company’s next-generation Global Xpress (or Gx) network will launch in 2013 with global coverage planned for 2014; satellites will operate in the Ka-band of the spectrum; the company expects effective broadband speeds up to 50MB per second to mobile, portable and fixed devices with a 30cm dish antenna for business aviation aircraft.

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SECTOR FOCUS: CABIN IFE Aircell’s Gogo Biz

Which Network is Right for You?*

• The Basics: For starters, Aircell isn’t a satellite network – it’s based instead on a modified version of the air-toground spectrum in the US used to provide coverage for the mobile phone carriers. Aircell manufactures their equipment, which is in service aboard business aircraft.

Gogo Biz is the “flavour” from Aircell most applicable to business aviation users. The system provides support for email and high-speed internet only at the moment.

• Coverage: Currently only available over the continental US and parts of Alaska, the company plans to offer service into Canada via a partner by the end of 2013.

• Speeds: Aircell doesn’t make precise up- or downlink figures available, but they claim the service is fast enough to support an Internet experience similar to what people are accustomed to on the ground.

• Pricing: Gogo Biz has an unlimited usage package for $2,195 per month.

• Extras: They offer a fleet discount up to 8% off the monthly usage amount.

• Future: Expanding soon into Canada, eh; they also plan to add voice support next year.

ViaSat Yonder • The Basics: Runs over multipurpose Ku-band satellites; high-speed Internet: unlimited web access, email with attachments, streaming video, large-file transfer and access to VPNs; fax capability.

• Coverage: Covers major flight routes globally, including over water.

• Speeds: Forward link speeds of 1-2 MBps; return link speeds 128-256Kbps.

• Pricing: Available through service partners.

• Extras: Offers unlimited usage option and flat-rate pricing; provides always-on service, available while idling, taxiing or in full flight; service is on whenever aircraft is powered up without login.

• Future: Effective worldwide connectivity.

Like any investment in technology, choosing a SatCom network takes time and know-how. A good place to start is with the right questions. By knowing where and how frequently you will use the system (including across a fleet of aircraft), you can develop a better picture of which network may suit your needs. Note that all prices vary greatly, depending on network, service provider and hardware installation.

• How much data will you use?

- Costs for limited levels of monthly usage (up to 500MB) can be as low as $6-8 per MB per month - Look for bundled discounts across a fleet, which may enable you to bring costs down by as much as 20% - Some networks allow unlimited usage that can average between $2,000-6,000 per month • Where and how will you use the system?

- Inmarsat, Iridium and ViaSat’s Yonder networks deliver global coverage, including over water (in some cases excepting high latitude polar regions). Aircell’s Gogo Biz network is limited to the continental US and parts of Alaska.

- Iridium and Inmarsat offer voice (telephony) connectivity; ViaSat offers voice connectivity over VOIP; Aircell Gogo Biz says they will offer voicesupport next year.

• Will you use the system for safety services, i.e., as a datalink between the pilots and the ground?

- Only Iridium and Inmarsat networks support safety services datalink connectivity. *Thanks to AirCloud’s Peter Lemme for extensive input and research into developing this list.

Like any investment in technology, choosing a SatCom network takes time and know-how

FC REVIEW: BIZAPPS

The iPad has totally changed the way we work and communicate and provides a new platform for business applications and information sharing. FlyCorporate looks at some of the latest apps designed for the bizav market.

Name of App Target User What it does

Cost

Name of App Target User What it does

Cost

Name of App Target User What it does

Cost

Charter Plus Passengers Use this app to book your private flight, providing instantaneous logistics for 3,000 private aircraft worldwide to private flyers. Works for iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. Free

Name of App Target User What it does

Cost

Crew Reader Crew, pilots View documents by a simple tap instead of multiple taps, scrolls or dropdown menus. Useful for viewing aviation approach charts; quick change to night view. $4.99

Name of App Target User What it does

AnywhereMap Pilots Aviation GPS tool designed by pilots for pilots. Offers real moving map GPS application with terrain and night views, including full geo-referenced charts included. For iPad and iPhone. $49.99

Name of App Target User What it does

Cost

Cost

Pilot’s Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge Pilots This iPad and iPhone app is a publication of the FAA, designed to help pilots and student pilots prepare for their pilot’s certificate.

Free

CrewAlert Flight crews/operators Developed by Boeing and Jeppesen to help manage alertness and fatigue. Allows crew to build scenarios based on planned or actual flight and duty schedule. $29.99

PilotLog Offline Pilots Free Companion programme to PilotLog online log book (requires synchronisation with PilotLog database to function). Free trial accounts of PilotLog available.

Free

#bizapps

Get on Board with FlyCorporate Marketing Communications Print and Digital Advertising 360° Tours & Photography

App Development

Branding

Video & Podcasts

Event Planning

Thought Leadership

Custom Publishing Sponsorships Public & Media Relations

Learn how FlyCorporate Integrated Multimedia Marketing and Branding programmes can work for you in 2013 contact: Natalya Berdikyan natalya.berdikyan@flycorporate.com • +32 9 26 20 338

www.flycorporate.com

Landings:

Oman FC’s trip planning tool for executives

O

man is the oldest independent state in the Arab world, and one of the more traditional in the Gulf. There is a strong cultural legacy here, and Omanis value and preserve it. Despite brief political manifestations during the Arab Spring uprising, Oman is known as one of the most developed and stable countries in the Arab world.

The natural and cultural landscape has been recognised by UNESCO and whether it’s museums and mosques, or scuba diving and desert safari trips, Oman does not compromise in terms of variety or quality. Although there is no official dress code for foreigners, being a more traditional state, dress may be slightly more formal than what some are used to in Western countries. In public places, including hotels and restaurants, smart casual is the standard; which means, despite the hot climate (reaching up to 50°C/122°F peak in the hot season, May-September) shorts and sandals are a no-go.

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FC REVIEW: LANDINGS

AIRPORTS

Flight Support Services

Oman has three airports, all managed by the Oman Airports Company (S.A.O.C.) and none of which have bizav dedicated terminals or heliports. omanairports.com

As all FBO operations are handled by the Oman Authorities, flight support companies tend to offer full services after landing – anything from fuel handling to complete organisation of your accommodation and transport.

MUSCAT INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

The following companies offer flight support services including: charter, fuel, flight planning, slot clearances, crew and catering, landing permits, ground handling, immigration and customs support.

Muscat International is the main airport of Oman, located around 30km from old Muscat. Work is currently underway on an expansion to increase total passenger capacity to around 12 million, with an expected completion of 2014. The 3,342m runway is available for business aviation, and there is 24 hour fuel and handling.

Additionally, they can take care of your airport transfers, accommodation, tours and private driver hire during your stay, offering a real one-stop-shop, which is helpful in a country where getting things done as a foreigner can be frustrating.

SALALAH AIRPORT

Continental Jet Services

The second international airport of Oman is 5km from the main city centre. Work is also underway here for capacity of 1 million passengers by 2014. The current runway is 3,342m in length, and the new runway will be 4,000m. 24 hour fuel and handling is also available here.

cjs.ae

KHASAB AIRPORT

Ramjet

Khasab airport is located in Khasab district, Musandam Governorate, north of the Sultanate of Oman.

ramjet.aero

Miracle Flight Support miracle.aero

Royal Jet There are four new regional airports under development – Adam, Ad Duqm, Sohar and Ras Al Hadd – all due for operation in 2014, with runways measuring 4,000m x 60m.

royaljetgroup.com

Alternatively, given the close proximity to Oman, Dubai International and Al Ain Airports can be fly-in points, especially if you are staying at the Six Senses Hideaway Zighy Bay, in the northern area.

skyas.aero.

Sky Aviation

The airports within Oman are not only owned, but also operated by the Oman Airports Management Company S.A.O.C (OAMC), belonging to the Government of the Sultanate of Oman.

OAMC is responsible for the management and operation of Muscat International and Salalah Airports (and will be for the future airports). This includes infrastructure, runway, apron and car parking, terminal management, certification and compliance.

RoyalJ Jet FBO

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FC REVIEW: LANDINGS

Connections Connections between airport and hotel are most conveniently organised through hotel concierge services or service providers.

Hotels can organise door to door, meet and greet services; and this can be by way of private car (hotels have their own fleets), limousine or luxury minibus. A private hired car with driver is by far the most reliable way to explore Muscat, although taxis can be easily hailed from the street in Muscat or a taxi rank. With the exception of some airport pickups, taxi meters are not commonly used, so the fare should be agreed to beforehand. Shangri-La has a heliport and marina, but note that sea arrivals may have separate entry requirements.

HOTELS InterContinental Muscat

Al Bustan Palace ritzcarlton.com/en/Properties/AlBustan From Muscat Airport, the Al Bustan Palace is 40km South-East. A redefining renovation was recently done, both inside and out, and the Palace is set on a private beach with acres of gardens. Furnishings combine local tradition and art deco creating a blend of Arab culture and art. Its 38m-high domed atrium lobby is a stand-out feature, along with the intricately handcrafted wall covers and original carvings. With views of manicured gardens, the sea of Oman and the Haijar Mountains, the hotel has 200 guest rooms and 50 luxury suites, authentic dining, a 1km long private beach (the longest in the country), and five outdoor swimming pools. Full concierge and business services are also available, if you can pull yourself away from the beach.

The Chedi Muscat ghmhotels.com/en/chedi-muscat-oman The Al Hajar Mountains reflect in the water of the Gulf of Oman; and the doors of the Chedi Muscat. The hotel rises up from a landscaped twenty-one acre garden oasis, and has 158 Omani influenced guestrooms and villas. This location, while still central, is surrounded by natural landscape, and is equally suited to leisure and business travellers. You are spoilt for choice with six distinct restaurants; from Arabian courtyard, to shisha lounge, to beachfront or poolside dining. The just-opened 13-suite Balinese spa, three swimming pools, and 400sqm health club keeps your lifestyle in check while away on business. There is a 24hour business centre and invaluable concierge service, which will make your stay hassle-free and efficient.

The most centrally located, in the heart of the city’s premier residential, government and diplomatic quarter; the InterContinental Muscat is a 35-acre oasis inside the metropolis. The business and commercial district is at the doorstep, as are must-see sights and shopping quarters (including the Muttrah Souk or “essence of Muscat”). In comparison, this hotel does not offer the same “tradition meets elegance and luxury” feel and surroundings; however, in terms of experiencing the real capital of Muscat, this hotel is ideal, and offers the same facilities – restaurants, pools, fitness centre, valet parking, and business services.

Shangri-La Barr Al Jissah Resort and Spa shangri-la.com/muscat/ barraljissahresort Set against a backdrop of sea and mountains, like the Chedi, Shangri-La’s Barr Al Jissah Resort and Spa consists of three hotels awaiting your arrival.

Approaching Al Waha, you enter a man-made tunnel through the mountain, leading to an oasis with several swimming pools. Date palms and traditional Dhofari architecture remind you: you are in Arabia.

The resort’s focal point, Al Bandar Hotel, is designed to resemble a town with a mélange of fine restaurants, gift shop and art gallery. Finally, the Al Husn is a suitably exclusive castle. Rooms and suites are amongst the largest in Oman, and will make you feel you are walking into an Arabian palace. It is hard to believe that the location is only 15 minutes away from the bustling centre of Muscat.

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FC REVIEW: LANDINGS

RESTAURANTS The Chedi Muscat Fine Dining Restaurant ghmhotels.com/en/chedi-muscatoman Dine in Omani chic, with curved arches which make a dramatic first impression in this vaulted, crystal chandelier-lit dining room with contemporary terrazzo floors. Bay windows look onto gardens, and live piano music complements the ambience. Four open show kitchens add entertainment and the smell of the Middle East as Muscat’s finest culinary chefs prepare Western, Asian, Middle Eastern and Indian cuisine, paired with award-winning wines. You have the option of dining on the outdoor patio or in one of eight private dining rooms with lounge areas that make memorable venues for business dinners. The restaurant is renowned for its indulgent Friday brunch, and not just for the free flow of Champagne.

Located: main hotel building, near lobby / Serves: breakfast, lunch, dinner, Friday brunch.

The Chedi Muscat Arabian Courtyard ghmhotels.com/en/chedimuscat-oman On cool desert nights (October – April), you can enjoy dining under the Arabian sky on plush cushions, while listening to live Omani music.

The experience is Oman luxury – with Authentic Arabic mezze, shwarma and kebabs on the outdoor courtyard. During this season, the adjacent Shisha Lounge summons you with its colourful divans, distinct Eastern lanterns and traditional water pipes, that should be tried at least once on your stay in this part of the world. Located: main building, adjacent to the main restaurant / Serves: dinner.

Chedi Muscat Fine Dining Restaurant

Al Khiran Terrace Restaurant ritzcarlton.com/en Overlooking the Sea of Oman, the award-winning Al Khiran is an all-day indoor and outdoor dining restaurant. Serving a scrumptious buffet breakfast and an international lunch buffet with live cooking stations, there is plenty of choice for everyone. For dinner, guests can enjoy the special themed buffet nights on a daily basis. An a la carte menu is also available. Located: in hotel, 1st level / Serves: breakfast, lunch, dinner.

Al Tanoor, Shangri-La Barr Al Jissah Resort and Spa shangri-la.com/muscat Here you will find characteristic cuisines of the Arabian Gulf region, surrounded by traditional Omani style. The interior is decorated with Arabian tents, pottery and vibrant colours which complement the dishes prepared at open cooking stations. In addition to Arabian cuisine, there is a choice of the best Mediterranean, Persian, Indian, and Turkish picks. Serves: breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Overlooking the Sea of Oman, the award winning Al Khiran is the all-day indoor and outdoor dining restaurant

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FC REVIEW: LANDINGS

BARS Local Muslim Omanis are forbidden to drink alcohol; however, as a foreigner you will find award-winning wines and a choice of cocktails in bars, hotels and restaurants in Oman. You will not be able to buy it outside these places, and sticking to the large hotels is always the best approach.

The hotels listed have numerous options for social dining and drinking – most have around six restaurant and bars to choose from, themed for the occasion, and varying from luxury-chic to calm and casual.

You will almost always find a stylish piano bar, serving international cocktails and cognacs, with smooth jazz notes floating in the background; beach or poolside bars for those balmy summer nights. The FC pick, though, is the cool-relaxed Shisha Lounge (The Chedi Muscat, next to the Arabian Courtyard restaurant).

Note that during the period of Ramadan, most, if not ALL bars and lounges will be closed.

Conference facilities Chedi Muscat Meetings

Al Bustan Meetings

ghmhotels.com/en/chedi-muscat-oman For exclusive meetings (up to 40 guests), the prestigious Salalah Room and Nizwa Room at The Chedi Muscat bring in the world’s top companies and regional business executives.

The rooms can be flexibly configured into boardroom, classroom or theatre-style, and the hotel offers tailored menus and services, including 24 hour business and IT support.

Outside of the boardroom, excursions by private catamaran on the Gulf of Oman, or a trip to the desert to a secluded oasis camp can be organised.

ritzcarlton.com/en/Properties/ AlBustan/Meetings With 11 meeting rooms spanning over four flours; and seating for 20 to 250 guests, this is a great option if what you need is options. More of a “hotel” feel exists here than in the more exclusive Chedi Muscat; however, you can also find more classic and “regal” rooms. Rest assured that service and catering will be to an impeccable Oman standard, with abundant facilities.

Special Outdoor Events For a special event, the main hotels are also able to tailor outdoor spaces. A private beach or Arabian desert dining experience at the end of a productive conference or meeting will leave your guests with Oman in their memory forever.

TRIP TIP If your visit is scheduled between July and October, this is turtle-watching season in Oman. More than 50,000 turtles (including the endangered green turtle) land on the beach, lay their eggs, and return to the sea. Head to Ras al Hadd, the only remaining beach open to tourists, due to protection measures elsewhere. Seeing the tracks left by the turtles, alone, is worth the trip.

If hustle and bustle is more your thing, Arabic “souqs” (markets) are found in every major town in Oman and are important social hubs in communities, for trading goods and information alike. Experiencing the sensory flurry of a souq is a must if this is your first trip to Oman. It is also where you will find your authentic gifts and souvenirs, which you should be prepared to haggle for.

Shopping in itself is an experience – you’ll find anything from rose-water sprinklers; to traditional rugs; to fine silverwork and gold jewellery, which vary in style with each region.

To remove the guesswork, a 5-10% tip, although not expected, is customary in most restaurants and for services.

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