Region
Boosted by wealth concentrated in some of the countries in the Middle East, the aviation industry in the region including the business aviation segment, has generally been a success story
Evolving Middle East
The Middle East is a transcontinental region that is made up of 16 countries, a majority of these Islamic and some endowed with enormous wealth largely attributable to oil reserves. The Middle East region has been an important market for business aviation ever since this segment of the global civil aviation industry was established. Yet in some of the countries such as Yemen, Syria and Libya business aviation is still almost non-existent. Initially, business aviation in the Middle East was an exclusive privilege for royal families and heads of state. However, over the last decade or so, there has seen a clear shift of business aviation towards corporate travel.
BUSINESS JETS IN THE MIDDLE EAST
Since the year 2004, the market for business aviation aircraft in the Middle East had been growing at compounded annual growth rate of seven per cent. However, at the end of the year 2017, the strength of the fleet of business aviation aircraft stood at 620, a figure that was two per cent lower than that for the previous year. The reduction by 12 business jets in the Saudi Arabian fleet in 2017 was the largest in the region representing a drop by 7.2 per cent. Other countries in the region where the reduction was smaller were Bahrain, Cyprus, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait and Lebanon. On the other hand there were countries in the region namely
Egypt, Jordon, Qatar, Turkey and the UAE that registered marginal growth in the size of the fleet of business jets. The largest increase in fleet strength was recorded by UAE that added six aircraft to its existing fleet registering a growth rate of six per cent for the year.
The average age of the aircraft in the fleet stood at 14.6 years, an increase from 14.2 years in 2016. Data also reveals that in the last five years i.e. in the period 2012 to 2017, the fleet of business aircraft in the Middle East has grown by just under five per cent. As per some analysts, the fleet of business aircraft in the Middle East is expected to reduce by one to three per cent primarily on account of business aviation companies opting for off-shore registration. In fact, migration by owners to foreign registries, makes it difficult to arrive at an accurate figure of the total number of business aviation aircraft owned and operated by private owners and other agencies in the Middle East.
OEMS IN THE MIDDLE EAST
Five countries in the Middle East that have the largest fleets of business aviation aircraft are Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the UAE, Israel and Egypt. These five nations own around 76 per cent of the total assets in this class in the region with the first two commanding ownership of around 48 per cent of the fleet. The two global original equipment manufacturers (OEM) namely Bombardier and Gulfstream, dominate the business aviation market in the Middle East with the former commanding a market share of 19.4 per cent and the latter marginally lower at 18.3 per cent. The most widely used business jet platforms in 2017 were Bombardier Challenger 605 and the Gulfstream G550. These are now being replaced or augmented by the Challenger 650 and the Gulfstream G650. Apart from the platforms from the two major global OEMs, there are the Cessna Citation CJ and the Falcon 2000EX business jets being operated by some of the countries in the Middle East region, albeit in small numbers.
Another global OEM making inroads into the market for business aviation aircraft in the Middle East region is Embraer of Brazil. Business aviation aircraft from Embraer available to customers in the Middle East region are the top end of the company’s line, including the Legacy 600/650 and Lineage 1000 and shuttle variants. Among the Phenoms delivered to the nations of the Middle East region, Etihad has taken the first two Phenom 100Es with two more aircraft slated to come next year. For this company, the Middle East is an important market. So far the company has sold just over 50 business aviation aircraft to the region, majority of these that is 20 have gone to customers in the UAE and 12 to Saudi Arabia. As per Embraer, demand for business aviation aircraft in the Middle East region is expected to rise in 2019 and beyond and the Brazilian aerospace major sees a potential market for 200 business jets in the years to come. To support the existing fleet of Embraer
The two global original equipment manufacturers (OEM) namely Bombardier and Gulfstream, dominate the business aviation market in the Middle East