iPhone | iPad
Android
Huawei
KT APPDOWNLOAD
Royal Jet to Buy Up to Four Aircraft on Management Basis
ABU DHABI - Royal Jet will add up to four aircraft to its fleet this year by acquiring them from smaller reputable business aviation operators, individual owners and corporate companies with their own business jets, on a management basis.
This will enhance the fleet strength of the Royal Jet to 14. The respective owners will still retain the ownership of those aircraft, and will be able to charter them when they need. But Royal Jet will be responsible for management, maintenance, engineering and other related support for them.
“This will be beneficial to Royal Jet also because we can use these aircraft for our business aviation operations without making much investments for the purchase or overheads of the aircraft and the customer benefits due to the offset of their costs,” according to the President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Royal Jet Shane Jeffree O’Hare.
But the company is not planning to buy new or second hand aircraft this year. “Our strategic plans and business plans remain the same, but we have sort of stretched it out by 12 to 18 months,” Shane Jeffree O’Hare told Khaleej Times on the sidelines of the International Air Transport, Air Space Law and Regulation conference here on Wednesday.
He said the global financial downturn has affected Royal Jet in lesser scale than other airlines in the business aviation sector. “Many of the airlines in business aviation have 35 to 40 per cent exposure to the corporate sector which has been affected badly. Our exposure to the corporate clients is only about 20 per cent. Our client profile which include Royalty, heads of state, government, high net-worth individuals and our medical evacuation services not been affected badly. That is why the smaller companies are turning to us as business aviation market leaders.”
“However, our growth and profit rates are likely to slow down this year. Last year we had a growth rate of 25 per cent and net profit of 17 per cent,” he said. He said with the onset of the global financial crisis the prices of second hand aircraft have dipped by the 25 to 30 per cent. In the case of new aircrafts the periods of deliveries have also come down drastically. “Earlier last year we had to wait till 2012 for getting a new aircraft delivery. Currently it will be possible to get new aircraft delivered almost immediately, because many airlines have deferred their orders for new aircraft.”
The aircraft completion companies also have enough free slots now. So purchase of new or second-hand aircraft has become easier now even though availability of finance for aircraft purchase has become very tight. “Royal Jet is in a strong position with good liquidity and due to our customer mix, award winning service and business diversification we are well placed to ride out these difficult times,”Shane Jeffree O’Hare said.
· ramavarman@khaleejtimes.ae
More news from Local Business
The latest branch is the second branch of the company at Sahara Centre and one of the eight branches opened in the UAE this year, the exchange house said in a statement
Events to be staged at the DWTC, comprising diverse sectors including construction, energy, technology, beauty, food, healthcare, environment and automotive, will mark the emirate’s post-pandemic economic recovery
Dubai FDI supports expansion by Amazon Web Services with upcoming data centres in the UAE
Some banks are now permitting their customers to purchase Bitcoin and other crypto currencies after conducting due diligence tests on payments
The percentage of using the digital transformation platform has grown to 96 per cent compared to the first half of last year, when the percentage of use did not exceed 76 per cent