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"The US and European markets for private aviation are currently a disaster. There has been a very steep drop in aircraft flying hours and in aircraft sales, with many distressed sales coming to the market. Conversely, there is still a lot of interest in flying into the Middle East, from operators based in the US and Europe - as well as the CIS states - as the region still offers some of the most attractive business opportunities, at this time. We are still sourcing European business through our UK office and the Middle East is the focus of this interest, because of our reach and expertise in the region,"says John Pilcher, Head of Europe for Palm Aviation in the UK.
Palm Aviation's Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, Mohammad Saideh said, "About 30% of our business originates in the CIS countries, mainly through business jet operators flying clients inbound to the Middle East, as investors and business people scour the globe for opportunities. The global downturn in aviation has been very pronounced but the regional private aviation sector, which is still evolving, is proving more resilient as high net worth individuals are still choosing to fly their aircraft or to charter business jets. This means that the overall level of aircraft movements still remains reasonably solid amongst the well established business jet operators we are working with in Dubai."
"Furthermore, the sharp decline, panic, fear and volatility witnessed in the global financial markets during October and November of 2008 was simply unprecedented. Such sentiment in the US, Europe and Asia signals a period of brief consolidation to allow the dust to settle, followed by a recovery in business activity as a result of low bank interest rates kick starting the global economy, which will spill over into the Middle East and add further growth to the business aviation market in the region. We do expect the regional private aviation market to continue to develop strongly, and experience sound double digit growth longer term," added Saideh
"There are certainly stellar opportunities in the current situation and we are looking to enhance and develop our business in Saudi Arabia and Europe. For prospective aircraft owners, and well established individuals who may be contrarian business thinkers by nature, there are some great buying opportunities around that may not repeat themselves in decades to come," he concluded
Posted by Rana Mesbah
