New joint venture launched for executive air charter services in the Middle East
Tyrolean Jet Services (TJS), an Executive Air Charter Operator established in Austria in 1978, has entered into a Joint Venture with Clear Sky, a company established and owned by MerchantBridge International Holdings, a privately-held investment and private equity firm founded over a decade ago by industry veterans and backed by prominent merchant families from across the Gulf Cooperation Council states (GCC), to offer executive air services in the Middle East.
The Joint Venture has been named CLEARSKY - TYROLEAN JET SERVICES (CST) and will have its first operation in Beirut, Lebanon. CST will offer charter services through its own fleet and third party aircraft and management services in the first phase and maintenance and FBO in the second phase.
The company plans to open soon a representative office in Dubai, one of the fastest growing and huge potential aviation hubs in the world. CST is headed by Munzer Awaida who has over 30 years experience in the aviation industry.
CST will provide its large client base in the region customized flight services both within the region for short trips and to international destinations. Supported by the experience of its parents, CST aims to offer more than just convenient and efficient personal transportation but a unique suite of quality services encompassing all phases of travel.
The first aircraft, an Executive Dornier 328JET of 14 seats operated by TJS, will be based in Beirut from June 2009. The Joint Venture will quickly expand its fleet and will establish operations in other markets in the Middle East to serve its clients in a better way.
Basil Al-Rahim, Founder and President of MerchantBridge, said: “The Middle East executive aircraft market is still in its infancy when compared to developed markets and, notwithstanding the current challenging global and regional environment, offers important growth opportunities in the medium term. We are pleased to have teamed up with TJS to better serve this market”.
Martin Lener, CEO of Tyrolean Jet Services (TJS), CST will take advantage of MerchantBridge’s excellent network and local knowledge in addition to its tremendous experience in successfully setting up and developing new ventures in the Middle East and Europe. TJS’ asset is its very long term experience in operating various business jets from Cessna Citation CJ2 to Global Express aircraft. As a first result of this linked experience, CST will introduce exceptional Executive Charter Services in Beirut.
According to industry studies, there is immense scope of growth for executive charter air services in the Middle East region. It is estimated that the annual volume of business done by charter air service operators is to the tune of US$500-800 million and this turnover is expected to touch US$1.2 billion in 2010.
Presently, the GCC region has 600 aircraft servicing this niche segment and this number is going to touch 700 in two years time. Up to 50 per cent of the executive air charter aircrafts are in Saudi Arabia followed by the UAE with 37 per cent and the remaining 13 per cent spread over the remaining GCC markets of Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman. The demand for executive air charter services is expected to grow substantially with the expansion of airports in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region involving an investment of AED210 billion, of which AED100 billion alone will be in the UAE airports, notably Dubai. The movement of passengers and aircrafts in the region is projected to grow by up to five per cent over the next two years.
