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Abu Dhabi-based Royal Jet has reported a major
increase in charter bookings over the summer period as the private
aviation industry in the region appears to be pulling out of the
worldwide economic downturn.
The international luxury executive flight
services company, chaired by H.E. Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mubarak Al
Nahyan, received a 15% rise in bookings compared to the same
period last year.
“We are finding that there is a trend for our
guests to make their bookings much later than what they used to,
often leaving this to within two to four days of when they wish to
travel,” said Royal Jet’s President and CEO Shane O’Hare. “We
are finding that within the GCC there is strong demand – with a
steady stream of bookings from Qatar and, especially, Saudi
Arabia, where our recent alliance with ARABASCO has led to a surge
of interest from the Kingdom.”
“In part, this is also down
to our new pricing policy that we introduced a few months ago
within the Gulf region whereby the previous way we calculated our
prices was based on where the actual aircraft originated from,
whereas now we price the charter from where the guests commence
their flight. This has led to dramatic reductions in charter rates
– sometimes by as much as 20%.”
Shane O’Hare also confirmed that there
has been an excellent response to the introduction of
Royal Jet’s own charter brokerage service, based in
Dubai, which started operations six months ago. He said that Royal Jet’s strategy has been one of
diversification into a number of different service offerings which
has protected the company from the worst of the economic
turbulence.
“The brokerage service is a key aspect of Royal Jet’s
growth strategy and is in line with the company’s policy of
increasing diversification into a range of complementary
activities which also include FBO [Fixed Base Operations]
facilities, an aircraft management and acquisition consultancy,
medical evacuation services and the core aircraft charter
business,” he said. “The
outlook for the coming months is looking extremely positive and
fully validates our business strategy of diversification and
moving into new markets across the region.”
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