The founding chairman of the Middle East Business Aviation Association Ali Al Naqbi has called on European business aviation companies with aspirations to do business in the fast-growing market to get involved.
"People used to talk about Arab companies as being customers. We want people to think of us as partners," he said at the show this morning.
"People talk about their concerns about the region after the 'Arab Spring' uprisings, but we look at this positively. Libya, Tunisia and Yemen account for barely 2% of the business aviation activity, but we know there is much greater potential. In Yemen for example there is not a single AOC issued for business aviation - yet I can think of 12 Yemeni owners with Swiss-registered aircraft. We know there needs to be infrastructure in place and by working with people that are here at this show in partnership, this can happen."
With more than 150 members in place Al Naqbi believes MEBAA should be the forum to solve major issues such as the "grey market" and the shortage of maintenance providers and airport access. "We invite companies that want to do business in the Middle East to join MEBAA and help us to develop and at the same time help their businesses to expand."
Source: Flight Daily News
