Private jets are gaining popularity with companies and individuals as prices come down and lines at airports get longer.

AME Info checked out the Phenom 300 and Lineage 1000 made by Embraer, a Brazil-based aircraft manufacturer.

The tiny Phenom 300 seats about six depending on the configuration and feels cramped on the inside, mostly because of the low ceiling. However, there is ample legroom when you sit down and the seats are very comfortable.

The aircraft can fly 1,800 nautical miles, which means it can fly nonstop from Dubai to Cairo. The price tag is $7m.

Its big brother is the Lineage 1000 (pictured below), which seats up to 19 passengers and feels positively spacious by comparison. With a plasma TV on the wall, a couch, and cushy lounge chairs you feel as if you are sitting in your living room.

It can fly much farther too - 4,200 miles nonstop, which means you can travel from Dubai to London with plenty of fuel to spare. The price tag for this comfy aircraft is a cool $43m.

One of the fun things to do at the Air Show is test out some of the luxury cabins that are on display.

AME Info decided to take a ‘test ride’ on the first class bed offered by Qatar Airways, which was recently named by Skytrax as the ‘best first class in the world.’

We were told that the bed could accommodate a ’six footer,’ and our lanky reporter can vouch that he had a few inches of legroom to spare on his six-foot-one frame. The mattress itself was very comfortable and the controls were easy to use.

The first class cabin also boasts a 17-inch tv screen and an electronic massage for the back and neck, which was very relaxing. Having dealt with the long lines and noisy din of the Air Show all day, it was all we could do not to curl up for a nap.

Visitors to the Dubai Air Show can see firsthand a scale model of the world’s largest airport being built in Jebel Ali, 40km from Dubai city centre.

The model was a little underwhelming at first sight, but when representatives begin providing details of the airport, you start to appreciate how enormous it will be.

The new hub, which has been renamed Al Maktoum International Airport, will have six parallel runways 4.5km in length. The runways, which will be 800 metres apart, will be able to accommodate four superjumbo A380s taking off or landing at the same time.

The 92 metre high control tower will be the highest in the Middle East and designed in a ‘flower concept.’

The $10 billion airport will be able to handle 120 million passengers and 12 tons of cargo annually. It will also boast hotels, shopping malls (of course), support facilities, and state-of-the-art maintenance facilities.

The airport is scheduled to begin flights of cargo aircraft next year, and will be fully complete in 2012.

One of the most popular exhibits at the Dubai Air Show are flight simulators. Several companies have theirs on display, and at every one that AME Info visited, there were a number of people standing in the queue waiting to take a turn.

Boeing had one of the largest simulators on display. We talked to one of their engineers who develops the product, and he said each one is customized for the client depending on the aircraft that the pilots will be flying. He said it can take up to two years to design the specialized software, and much of the equipment, such as the stick, is the real deal, not a fake imitation.

Judging by how popular the simulator was, we asked if the company gets any requests from individuals who want to buy one for their family rooms. The answer was, yes, they do get requests from time to time, but Boeing does not sell them to individuals, partly for legal reasons.

The price tag would probably deter most, but certainly not all, big spenders in the Middle East. The one pictured here would cost around $6m. Some models, which have screens shaped like overhead domes that would you see at a planetarium, can sell for as high as $30m. Which would make one very expensive Eid toy.

If you want to see what speed and power on wheels looks like then you’d better get along to the upcoming Middle East International Motor Show. The event is to display some of the quickest vehicles around including the fastest production car on the planet - the Ultimate Aero Twin Turbo from Shelby Supercars.

This sleek speedster was clocked at a jaw-dropping 413 kilometres per hour - try hitting those speeds along Sheikh Zayed Road and, knowing what Dubai’s traffic is like, there are some out there who would.

The Bugatti Veyron 16/4, the former record holder with a top speed of 407 kilometres per hour, will also be in attendance as will one of the most popular sports cars in the world, the Pagani Zonda.

Partially designed by F1 legend Juan Manuel Fangio, the Italian made Zonda first hit the streets in 1999 and only 25  are produced every year.

Sadly, Fangio never got a chance to drive the car he helped to shape as he died in 1995.

The Middle East air line industry has been the fastest growing market in the world, averaging more than 12 percent for each of the past five years according to Randy Tinseth, Vice President of Marketing for Boeing Commercial Aiprlanes. Speaking at the Dubai Air Show, Tinseth provided a 2007 current market outlook and a 20 year forecast for commercial airplane demand.

He said the remarkable growth of the Middle East market is getting a boost by a strong economy, liberalization around the world, and strong trade. Also, the airlines have been able to successfully leverage their geographic position in the world to connect passengers between Europe, Asia, Africa, Oceania, and recently, the Americas. With the advent of aircraft that can serve longer routes, Middle East carriers can offer one-stop service to almost anywhere in the world.

Growth is also being driven by the region’s demographics. While typically known for its wealth and high-end passengers, which are well-served by the region’s internation carriers, the region also is home to a large number of Asian laborers who seldom fly because of the high cost. Recognizing the enormous potential of this market, four startup airlines have started in the past four years, Air Arabia, Jazeera Airways, NAS, and Sama. They already carry five percent of the region’s internal traffic.

In terms of a global forecast, Tinseth said the the number of passengers traveling over the next 20 years will increase by 4.5 percent per year, while passenger revenue per kilometer will grow by nearly 5 percent per year. He forecasts the total worldwide demand in 20 years to be 28,600 airplanes for a total investment 2.8 trillion dollars. The largest aircraft market in terms of units will be for single aisle airplanes, which carry between 100-200 passengers.

Boeing says it will be announcing a major sale for its new 787 Dreamliner at the Dubai Air Show, which opened today. It would not say which airline is buying the plane, which is going head to head with the Airbus A350.

The manufacturer said that sales this year for its aircraft in general are going well, and it expects to hit 150 orders from the Middle East alone by the end of the year.

Emirates Airline is expected to announcements the order of 50 Airbus A350s rather than Boeing’s equivalent 787 Dreamliner at this week’s show.

US aerospace manufacturing company Goodrich Corporation will unveil its new 115,000-square-foot systems maintenance and repair campus during the Dubai Air Show this week.

This new $25m facility will be located in Dubai’s Jebel Ali Free Trade Zone (JAFZA) area and will offer a full range of Maintenance Repair and Overhaul (MRO) services for components and systems for both commercial and military aerospace customers from Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA).

“For our customer it’s all about enhancing the speed and ease of doing business with us by providing the right assets in the right place at the right time,” said N S Pandarinath, Vice President MRO, Europe, Middle East and Africa for Goodrich Customer Services.

Chinese products have long dominated the international markets with their competitively price, low durability products. Proving that Chinese products are more than just “cheap” knock offs, a new line of luxury automobile brands will soon be the streets of

Haima, one of the three leading domestic sedan brands in China, will be showcasing their cars at this year’s Motor Show in Dubai.

Global Automotive Partners, the international distribution partner for Haima, will be unveiling three models, all of which have been developed in technical co-operation with Japanese manufacturer, Mazda. Models on display include a sedan that incorporates a sports balanced tuning chassis.

And in order to avoid the problem of missing spare parts and a lack of maintenance services, which can be a problem for newer brands, the company is developing an after sales customer service centre.

“Part of that long term vision is our commitment to provide first-rate customer service and after sales care, including spare parts and full service options. In order to achieve this, we have already begun to establish a strong dealership network, starting in the UAE, which will be developed across the MENA region,” said Ulli Urban, Chairman of Global Automotive Partners.