AME Info took a guided tour of one of Silverjet’s all-business class aircraft on display at the Dubai Air Show. Our first impression was that the interior felt roomy, as the seats are more spread out than on a typical aircraft. All of the 102 seats fold down into a bed that stretches 6 feet 3 inches.

The seats are comfortable and have an electronic massage feature. Each passenger has their own personal on-demand system, which looks like a portable DVD player, to use for watching movies or listening to music. The portable nature of the device means you can hold it in your hand or fasten it to the seat in front of you, whichever you prefer.

The aircraft also features a ’sleeper service’ (flights are designated as a Quiet Zone on night flights), specially designed menus, a ladies-only toilet, and a cabin crew to passenger ration of one to 10.

The conveniences of using Silverjet go beyond the in-flight comforts. The airline will be the only scheduled airline to use the executive terminal at Dubai International Airport for arrivals and departures. Passengers will be able to enjoy a luxury lounge, chair-side check-in and immigration, WiFi facilities, dedicated security and a 30 minute check-in.

The price for all of this luxury and convenience will be about £1,100 round trip from Dubai to Luton Airport, near London. Daily service between the two cities is scheduled to begin November 18.

It isn’t only fast cars that are going to be in the spotlight at this week’s Middle East International Motor Show but fast drivers too! Two time Formula One world champion Mika Hakkinen will be putting in an appearance at the show on Wednesday, November 14.

The flying Finn, who stepped out of F1 back in 2001, will on the Mercedes-Benz stand to unveil a limited edition racing version of the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren. Only 21 cars will be built and they will be designed specifically for the race track and not the road.

The SLR 722 GT, developed by the UK’s RML Group, certainly packs a punch with a meaty supercharged AMG 5.5-litre V8 engine lurking under its bonnet, capable of generating a peak output of 680 PS and a top speed of 315 kilometres per hour.

Such a specification will surely have even a top racer like Hakkinen drooling at the prospect of taking it for a spin.

Boeing has one-upped its rival Airbus with the announcement of a $13.7 billion deal to sell 100 planes to Dubai Aerospace Enterprise. Earlier this morning, Airbus had announced a $13.5 billion deal to sell 70 A320s and 30 A350s to DAE.

DAE’s purchase of Boeing aircraft comprises 70 Boeing 737 Next Generation aircraft and 30 wide body planes. The wide-body fleet will be split between Boeing 787s, 777s, and 747s.

The purchase price of the Boeing deal incorporates an associated deal with GE for 70 CFM56-7B engines for the 737s, GEnx-engines to power five Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental and further GE90-115B engines to power 10 777-300ER aircraft.

So, the battle between the two rivals continues. But with two days left of the Air Show, who knows what else is in store.

The owner flyer market, much like that of the corporate jet market, is entering a boom period, as materials become lighter, helping to make planes more fuel efficient and cheaper to run. And with so much money sloshing around in the Middle East, it is making it an attractive region for manufacturers.

Among those on display at the Air Show is Cirrus’ imaginatively named The Jet. Thankfully more attractive in looks than name (it is, we were told a working title that has stuck, but may change in the future), the $1m plane is three to four years away from being released. 

It uses a turbo fan (jet) rather than propeller, which the manufacturer said makes the plane more fuel efficient – a key theme at this year’s Show.

As well as owner fliers, Cirrus believes this will also attract the air taxi market once it is released, another oft discussed transport means in the Middle East.

The Middle East business charter market is currently worth $500 million a year, according to Shane O’Hare, President and CEO of Abu-Dhabi based Royal Jet, the region’s leading business jet provider. Summarizing the findings of the firm’s specially-commissioned ’state of the industry’ report, O’Hare said the future of the business aviation market in the region is looking ‘extremely good.’

The report found that the region’s business aviation market has achieved a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 40% in terms of aircraft movements and fleet growth. Furthermore, the value of the region’s charter market has achieved 23% annual growth over the past two years.

The United Arab Emirates is the region’s fastest growing market, with a current market value of $176 million.

Royal Jet is the region’s largest charter supplier with a 16% market share. ‘Over 50% of our business is currently emanating from the GCC, but given the roadmaps pinpointed in this research, our five year plan is looking further towards the horizon,’ O’Hare said.

Rolls Royce has added another $1.2bn in orders at the Dubai Air Show, taking its tally over two days to $9.6bn. It’s part of a deal signed by Dubai Aerospace Enterprise (DAE) to buy 100 aircraft from Airbus, and marks another significant victory for the firm over arch rival Boeing at the Show.

DAE Capital, the leasing arm of DAE, announced the deal this morning to buy 70 A320s and 30 A350s, in a deal worth $13.5bn. It will take delivery of the planes between 2013 and 2022. The company has also signed a $13.7bn deal with Boeing for 100 aircraft.

Rolls Royce is supplying its Trent XWB engines to Airbus for the 30 A350 XWBs that DAE ordered – which will be delivered from 2018. DAE, which was set up in February last year and is building a range of airline businesses, including a leasing company, is due to start taking delivery of the planes in 2018.

Yesterday, Rolls Royce won $8.4bn in orders via Emirates’ deal with Airbus to take 70 A350 XWBs, with an option to take another 50. The company said that usually, options in the airline business are exercised.

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.