Royal Jet sets world first with new global service benchmark

The new standard is in line with the vision of its Chairman, H.E. Sheikh Hamdan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, for Royal Jet to be the best private jet charter company in the world, and is a natural progression for the company which evolved from the Amiri Flight of the Abu Dhabi Royal Family just over five years ago.

Unveiling Royal Jet's enhanced service concept at the Middle East Business Aviation show at Dubai Airport, President and CEO Shane O'Hare said that as Royal Jet was the first truly luxury jet brand in the Middle East, it well understood how important a flawless inflight service is to its guests.

"The guest's trip is made up of a series of individual phases, which must flow faultlessly as far as our guests are concerned but each of which reflect a truly individualised service. It starts from the moment an enquiry first comes in to reserve one of our aircraft and lasts until the customers have reached their final destinations. Every element of their wishes is catered for," O'Hare continued, "and our service reflects the high levels they have experienced in palaces and in the very best hotels in the world. Anything less is simply not good enough."

As part of the process of redefining its service concepts, Royal Jet engaged brand and service consultancy Performa Global to take a long hard look at all the service areas of the company and to develop recommendations to take them to the next level.

For over 25 years, Performa has helped some of the world's leading hospitality groups - such as the Mandarin Oriental, the Shangri La, the Four Seasons and the Savoy - to deliver award winning service environments.

"All cabin crew, sales teams and those working at Royal Jet's Fixed Base of Operations (FBO) have been through special retraining, to bring everyone up to extraordinary standards, the likes of which have never been seen before in such an aviation environment. The idea is that we build a consistency of service and on board products which are instantly recognisable as the 'Royal Jet standard'. We certainly don't want to train the individuality out of our people, but to get them all delivering service quality to the highest possible predefined level. The service standards include the utilisation and provision of the best quality products in all areas experienced by the company's guests - from the highest grade linens, to the style and type of cuisine, and every element of the guests' preferences is individually catered for. The crew are also extensively trained in cultural differences, and this is reflected in their multi-national make up. We have recruited highly qualified chefs with a pedigree from some of the world's top hotels and restaurants. They have recently completed a comprehensive review process of the on-board cuisine, resulting in newly introduced menus after months of brainstorming, experimenting with recipes, testing, tasting and finally training the catering staff as to the intricacies involved in each dish,"

O'Hare said.

"The menus themselves have been enhanced to reflect the dining experience found in some of the world's top restaurants and to compliment the finest in-flight onboard service available in the world. Guests can select beverages from a unique cellar, which offers an impressive selection of high quality products from France, Italy, Australia and New Zealand. Royal Jet can even arrange for one of its highly trained and experienced chefs to travel with the guests for the duration of their trip, providing expertise in mixing and matching menu items, adapting ingredients, liaising with outside suppliers and allowing more interaction with them," O'Hare added. "This will allow us to offer our guests even more flexibility with the menu, whilst at the same time giving them a service without equal."

"I am often asked how Royal Jet can better its customer service when it is already widely regarded as being at its zenith. But this is a sector where we can never relax and say we are good enough. It is clear we have set a new benchmark within the industry and we remain in a class of our own - the world's first and only truly luxurious private jet brand," he concluded.