Honeywell believes the Middle East still represents a region of opportunity, despite its own forecast predicting a near-term slowdown in sales of new jets.
“We are still seeing a lot of optimism in the market,” says Raghed Talih, Honeywell regional sales director for the Middle East, Turkey and Africa. “We see opportunities in our line of business.”
Although the market for new aircraft is subdued, Talih stresses that Honeywell’s aftermarket business is in a strong position, seeing it as a “critical” time for certain “services and products”.
This is in part being aided by a relatively robust market for pre-owned jets. These may require mid-life avionics upgrades or deep maintenance of their engines and other systems such as auxiliary power units (APUs), says Talih.
In addition, owners want more predictable operating costs and to mitigate against the “financial impact of grounding flights”, hence the presence of Honeywell’s dedicated customer support operation at Dubai International airport.
Meanwhile, Honeywell also hopes to take advantage of the increasing trend towards high-speed, in-flight internet connectivity on business jets.
Inmarsat has already launched the first stage of its Ka-band GX Aviation network – known as Jet ConneX for the business aviation market - and Honeywell is the exclusive technology provider for the system using its JetWave hardware, which includes a lightweight tail-mount antenna that weighs in at just 9kg (20lb).
Describing the launch of the service, which goes live in 2015, as “one of the most exciting innovations over the last 20 years”, Talih sees it as ideal for the Middle East market as the “region is always keen on having the latest and greatest”.
Honeywell is already working on obtaining supplemental type certificates covering the installation of JetWave hardware on a number of bizliners, with the Airbus ACJ and Boeing Business Jet families the first aircraft targeted, says Talih. Bombardier is the launch OEM for line-fit JetWave hardware on its Global jet family.
In addition, the Middle East has also recently seen the regional in-service debut of its Ovation Select cabin management system on board the Embraer Legacy 500, with the first example of the new twinjet handed over in October.
Source: Flight Daily News
