(MENAFN - Khaleej Times) Abu Dhabi's luxury flight services operator, Royal Jet is working on the plan to replace its eight aircraft fleet in the next five to seven years.
"We are in the middle of a due diligence" we would expect to be recommending to the board of directors in the beginning of the second half," said Shane O'Hare, President and Chief Executive Officer while speaking to Khaleej Times, on the sidelines of the Abu Dhabi Air Expo 2013.
He said his fleet of six Boeing Business Jets or BBJs and two mid-range Gulfstream 300s would be replaced by newer products on the market, as Royal Jet is the premium executive jet operator.
The chief executive said "replacement of the existing BBJ fleet will be completed by 2016.
Among the new products in the market, the chief executive said, "you have Bombardier's C-series, new BBG-Max and Airbus products" to choose from.
The announcement with regard to the fleet expansion will be made in the fourth quarter of the year, Shane O'Hare said.
In the year, Royal Jet will target a revenue growth of six per cent in line with the industry growth.
The luxury executive jet operator outperformed its 2012 forecast and its 2011 revenue per aircraft, with revenues increasing by more than 6 per cent for Boeing Business Jets (BBJs) and 27 per cent for Gulfstream 300 in terms of aircraft usage and block hours. "From both an operational and financial standpoint, 2012 proved to be a year of stability and persistent growth," said Shane O'Hare. "Moving forward into 2013 and considering the positive economic outlook for the UAE, Royal Jet will continue to set benchmarks in the private jet industry."
Royal Jet operated more than 630 VIP charter trips in 2012 and 230 Medevac trips with a total of over 2,818 flights to 317 airports in 149 countries.
This growth accentuated the relevance of the luxury flight service provider's core operations and reflected an industry trend of similar growth over the last couple of years.
Earlier last year, Royal Jet announced a 17 per cent increase in first-quarter revenues over the same period in 2011 " the best Q1 performance in the company's history. This was followed by the best summer performance to date with a 19 per cent increase in flying hours over the same period in 2011.
The fourth F1 season at Yas Marina circuit in November last year saw Royal Jet's Fixed Base Operation (FBO) cap a sterling performance with over 800 movements during the year.
A significant announcement made last year was the launch of a luxury travel division " Royal Jet Luxury Vacations (RJLV) - in partnership with one of the UK's largest independent luxury travel providers, Eden Luxury Group.
Royal Jet, the international luxury flight services company, is jointly owned by Abu Dhabi Aviation, a publicly listed company on the Abu Dhabi Stock Exchange, and the 'Presidential Flight Authority' the royal flight service.
By Haseeb Haider
