MID-EAST JET MISSION
High-level delegation returns from undercover trade trip
THE Middle East is shaping up as the next international route from Cairns.
A top-level delegation including Mayor Bob Manning, Cairns Airport officials and representatives of Syrian billionaire Ghassan Aboud’s Australian operations have just returned from a Persian Gulf trade mission.
Details are being kept under wraps but it coincides with the arrival of a Qatar Airways’ corporate jet at the international terminal at Cairns Airport.
HIGH-LEVEL negotiations are under way to link Cairns to the Middle East with regular direct flights after a secretive delegation talked up the region’s newest trump card.
Cairns Regional Council Mayor Bob Manning was coy about the location of his overseas visit on Wednesday, leading to speculation he had been shoring up new route opportunities in Singapore.
It has since emerged he accompanied Crystalbrook Collection CEO Mark Davie and Cairns Airport representatives on a mission to the Middle East to trumpet Syrian billionaire Ghassan Aboud’s four $100 million-plus hotel construction projects across Cairns and Port Douglas.
Delegation members are keeping the identity of the country, or countries, they visited secret, as well as the name of the airlines involved. But their return coincided with the arrival in Cairns of a Gulfstream Aerospace GVI jet belonging to Qatar Executive, the business jet wing of Qatar Airways.
The aircraft, an anomaly in this part of the world, was still at the airport yesterday.
Mr Davie said he made the journey at the Cairns Airport’s behest to visit “a couple of airlines in the Middle East”.
“All these airlines need to be provided with the confidence that the local community supports the inbound tourists and business delegates,” he said.
“The investment Crystalbrook Collection is making supports that, adding an additional 800-odd rooms into the Cairns market and another 100-odd rooms to the Port Douglas market.”
Cr Manning on Wednesday, without actually revealing where he had been, said the talks were “incredibly important to this city”.
Cairns Airport chief commercial officer Paul McLean was vague about locations and airlines, simply stating the airport was continually talking with many airlines.
“At various stages during this process it is beneficial to present to the airlines as a group representing the destination, as we did on this latest trip, which was to the Middle East,” he said.
Crystalbrook Collection belives the Middle East as a logical source for its customers, especially given Mr Aboud’s high profile in the region.