Fujairah eyes slice of UAE business aviation market

The northern emirate of Fujairah has its vision set on grabbing at least a 10-per-cent market share of the growing UAE business jet industry, a top executive of the Fujairah International Airport confirmed.

Dr Khaled Al Mazroui, Fujairah airport’s General Manager, told Alrroya.com that a number of projects are being undertaken to support the emirate’s commercial aviation goals.

“We plan to have a 10-per-cent market share of the business jet [sector] in the UAE and so far we’re close to reaching that target,” he said.

Business jet traffic has been posting steady growth in the UAE and the rest of the Middle East, according to the Middle East Business Aviation Association (Mebaaa).

About 450 business aircraft are operating in the region at the moment. This figure is expected to rise by 15 to 20 per cent annually over the next four years, eventually becoming a $1 billion (Dh3.68 billion) industry, the association noted on its website.

Al Mazroui said the Fujairah International Airport has expanded dramatically since it was established in 1987.

From handling only one to two flights per week, the airport’s air traffic grew to 60 flights per day. Majority or about 90 per cent of these activities are cargo-related and 10 per cent are passenger flights.

The airport also allots an annual budget of Dh100 million for the maintenance and upgrading of its services and facilities.

Aircraft maintenance projects underway

By the middle of next year, Fujairah International Airport is expected to be the second largest centre in the country, next to Abu Dhabi, for Boeing and Airbus aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO).

Al Mazroui said the airport is currently co-ordinating with French company Europe Aviation for the construction of a hangar, which when completed by mid-2010 could simultaneously accommodate four Airbus A320 aircraft.

“At the same time we are also targeting another company, which will be responsible for maintenance of business jets and flying school aircraft. The finalised deal will be announced hopefully in the next two months,” Al Mazroui said, without naming the foreign company involved with the project.

In addition, Fujairah airport has sealed an agreement with an Australian firm to offer fixed base operation (FBO) to business jets. This project will see the construction of a building for business aircraft, set to be finished by the first half of 2010.

Fujairah tourism and national carrier

The emirate’s airport has also been actively supporting tourism development ventures, according to Al Mazroui.

“We handle many charter flights out of Fujairah, servicing Fujairah hotel guests. We also work together with other departments such as the tourism authority, travel agencies and hotels in a bid to further boost awareness on the tourism attractions that the emirate has to offer, both to local and international guests,” he said.

Aircraft movement, he added, has been steadily growing despite the challenging economic times. From January to October 2009, aircraft movement rose by 30 per cent compared with the same period a year earlier.

Currently, the Fujairah Government has no official plans of introducing its own national carrier, said Al Mazroui, but it is not an idea that has been shelved.

“There were proposals by some private companies in the past to launch a carrier based in Fujairah, but perhaps due to the financial crisis, those plans were postponed. We are, however, in discussion with some airlines in the region to start operation and carry passengers from the Indian subcontinent and neighbouring region to Fujairah International Airport,” he said.

In 2007, a private company owned by Indian businessman Paul Kang made a huge marketing buzz about the launch of Kang Pacific Airlines, which he claimed as “Fujairah’s national airline” and the UAE’s “fifth national carrier.”

The proposed budget carrier, which ambitiously promoted flights to Indian Subcontinent states, the United Kingdom and the Philippines, failed to take off and reportedly folded its operations in late 2008.

Fujairah civil aviation authorities have clarified that Kang Pacific had never been a government-backed airline and the UAE General Civil Aviation Authority has also confirmed that it has not completed the application for an air operator’s certificate (AOC).