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The Business Aviation sector in Middle East has witnessed a significant growth with addition in the number of aircraft and the private airports to support the infrastructure. In this region, Alton Aviation aims to deepen relationships with existing clients and provide them support on strategic, operational, and financial challenges. At the recently held Dubai Airshow, Mr. Raffi Kasparian, Managing Director of Alton Aviation Consultancy, Middle East interacted with Vishal Kashyap, Managing Editor of Aviation World and shares his views on the various factors that will drive the future of business aviation in this part of the world. Excerpts… Q: What are the services that Alton Aviation Consultancy provides to the business Aviation segment in the Middle East? A: We focus on different segments of aviation including business and general aviation. We support operators and investors on different strategy and investment management related topics. Q: What’s the size and scope of Business Aviation in Middle East Region? A: Middle East is a very large market for consultancy but maybe shifting more on the actual segment of business aviation, it’s still at a nascent stage. I would think it’s a growing market, still represents a small portion of demand in terms of aircraft movement, which is less than five percent of global aircraft movement to and from Middle East and within Middle East. The largest market being US and Europe, though in the region we have seen a significant growth of business aviation traffic of around 14 percent Compound Annual Growth Rates(CAGR) over the last five years. A lot of momentum post-COVID with a strong base of customers travelling for government or religious and tourism are also using private aviation. A core base of travel originated from a royal segment and then finally the third pillar would be travel for the oil and gas sector, where some oil and gas companies have their own small operation, private aviation operation or subcontract that to other third-party operators. Q: Middle East is a very big region, so in particular which country in this region has high business potential? A: I would focus on the countries in the GCC, particularly UAE and Saudi Arabia where we have seen a significant growth, especially here at Al Maktoum. There is a strong ecosystem when it comes to FBOs, so as well as MRO for the private jets. The developing number of movements and number of aircraft and jets that are being based here also has significantly increased, driven by growth in the number of ultra-high net worth individual moving to the region. Additionally, we have seen airports in Abu Dhabi specialising solely on private aviation like Al-Batin Executive Airport. Similarly, in Ras Al Khaimah in the North there will be also a good potential for business aviation. And moving to Saudi, places like Al-Ula and the Red Sea, has already a strong base of private aviation movements, not only because of the remote location, but because of the very premium nature of the destination. Similarly, in the Red Sea where the airport has been already also designed to accommodate special pods or mini terminals just for that segment. Q: How do you support the aviation companies involved into oil and gas related operations? A: With Oil & Gas companies, we partner with them to optimise their aviation operations. We have seen a need there also as these companies either outsource that logistics portion to third party operators or even have, for example, in-house aviation capabilities. We very much help them to optimise anything that is from planning, scheduling of their internal network,fleet planning, long-term procurement, and then touching on different functions internally, whether it’s also procurement of third party charter operations and including the review of performance and optimisation of their asset, whether it’s for fixed-wing jets or actual helicopter and rotary wing operations. So post-COVID, there is a significant change and development in this sector and the growth as well. Q: With new operators joining the sector, how the sector is responding in this region? A: In general, the segment of private aviation has benefited from the pandemic with the closure of commercial airlines and that momentum we still see, especially in the region, is still going on. There’s a lot of traction and new business models, including the charter. So not so much on the fractional ownership like the Net Jets of this world, you would see more in North America, but here maybe more charter operations developing more stronger presence and having the ability to have this concept of floating fleet being temporarily based in key hubs here like Al Maktoum, Dubai. Q: What’s your thought on fractional ownership? A: I would say it’s more shifting towards more of subscription based rather than fractional ownership. That has been a model that is proven to be more interesting for end users, whereas the typical fractional ownership is not something that I would call quite common still, like more as infancy. And one challenge that most of these operators face in the leasing process. Q: Does Alton Aviation Consultancy also assist in the leasing part? A: We tend to cover aircraft selection, financing strategy, including leasing as we have people from that industry and having worked with major lessors on transaction for large fleets and commercial, but also on more smaller jets. So indeed, this is something we keep track and we have engagements where though most of it will be more on the planning and the selection of aircraft. In some cases, we’re also partnering with operators or aircraft owners to also advise on financing structure and also leasing terms and conditions. Q: How do you see the regulatory approach in this region? A: Well, we have seen some efforts from different authorities and particularly KSA on streamlining those regulations, whether it’s registration of aircraft and also more harmonisation with international standards. Also in the UAE, there have been a lot of government-led initiatives to also even pioneer some of the new concept on

Gama Aviation’s New Business Aviation Centre (BAC) at Sharjah International Airport is all set to open for regular operations from January 2026 onwards. The facility built over an investment of over $65 million represents a defining step forward for private aviation in the UAE,combining a purpose-built design, operational efficiency, and refined luxury in one seamless experience. Spanning more than 80,000 square metres, the new BAC is located within easy reach of both Dubai’s commercial districts and the fast-growing Northern Emirates, offering a convenient and discreet alternative to the region’s more congested hubs. Recently, Aviation World Managing Editor, Vishal Kashyap had an firsthand experience of visiting the upcoming FBO in Sharjah and interact with Mr. Tom Murphy, Managing Director – FBO at Gama Aviation. In this exclusive interview, Tom Murphy shares the importance of this project as it aligns with the UAE’s Vision 2030 and reinforces Gama Aviation’s commitment to delivering world-class aviation infrastructure and service excellence. Excerpts… Q: The new Gama Aviation BAC seems huge. Could you please highlight the key details of the upcoming facility and its USP? A: The upcoming GAMA Business Aviation Centre (BAC) will have 12,000 square metre hangar and a VIP terminal which will be equipped with different lounge spaces including an airside lounge, a cigar lounge and crew lounges. We’ve really been very generous to the client spaces and designed them for a luxury feel and experience. In addition to that, to complement the luxury facility, we’ve really put a lot of emphasis on the operational USPs. In Sharjah, there is no slot restriction as the airport isn’t as congested and it’s a short taxi time from the runway to the aircraft parking positions. Once operational, from our site it will take about a 90 second to two-minute taxi time to the runway. We’re going to provide in-house fuelling with bowsers on our apron dedicated to fuelling only business jets. Our apron is also going to be a self-manoeuvring apron, meaning aircraft can just taxi in and out on their own power. All of these things are a rarity to find at FBOs or at international airports. So, we’re very-very proud of what we’re about to produce and what we’re about to   Q: At the upcoming hangar, how many aircraft can be parked at one time? And, will it support the MRO services as well? A: The hangar will be able to accommodate, depending on the mix of aircraft, maximum around 12 aircraft in each hangar. The biggest aircraft it will accommodate in our hangars would be like a B-757 and then down to a Boeing Business Jets (BBJ) or an Airbus corporate jets( ACJ). The hangars will also serve some maintenance services as well. As within one of our hangars will be the office space, stores and parts area for our in-house MRO.We have capability for the Global Series, Embraer Legacies, Gulfstream 650, Challengers and a few other types that we’re looking to increase our range of services from an MRO perspective as well. Q: With few prominent FBOS in the region, how you see the market in terms of the business, the growth potential and also demand? A: Yes, I think it’s very- very competitive. There are two FBOs in DWC and two in DXB, so in a very short area, numbers of FBOs are competing. And obviously, we are already in Sharjah. We’ve successfully grown our market share as we’ve got the market and clients more familiar with Sharjah and its USPs that are existing today. We’ve gradually increased our market share and last year was our busiest year on record in the last 10 years in terms of volumes. We’re 50 per cent up year-on-year on volumes and the number of passengers that have passed through this present terminal is 30 per cent up year-on-year. All in all, Sharjah is 30 minutes away from downtown Dubai and it’s also the bridge between downtown Dubai and the Northern Emirates. There is lot of developments happening in Ras Al Khaimah, so we’re perfectly positioned to serve both of those markets. If we look slightly further ahead, with Dubai International ceasing operations in the future, we will then be, if it wasn’t for Gama investing in this project and producing this facility, the only option for business owners would be DWC. We’re giving a really strong option to the market with the world-class facility as we’ll be the closest airport to downtown Dubai. Hangar Details: • Size: 12,000 sqm • Function: Purpose-built for Line Maintenance operations, as well as secure aircraft parking, adding sizeable capacity to hangar capacity in the region • Design: Engineered with wide-span doors, optimised apron access, and a clear internal height to accommodate multiple large-cabin aircraft simultaneously • Efficiency: The hangar layout allows direct taxi-in/taxi-out capability, minimising towing time and ensuring faster aircraft turnaround • Integration: Adjoining workshops and technical areas support on-site maintenance teams with dedicated tooling, parts storage, and client viewing areas • Environmental Design: Advanced lighting, insulation, and airflow systems enhance working conditions and energy efficiency Q: The investment is huge in developing this BAC. What factors will define the ROI for this project? A: This is not the first project as our company was established 42 years ago and our CEO is the founder of the company. I believe we have already a good penetration into the market and we want to expand those capabilities at a much higher scale into this FBO. We’ve built hangars in the UK before and we have another project in the UK where we’re building a hangar and an FBO. So, this is not new to Gama Aviation and it’s something that we’ve been proving concept for 10 years. We’ve been dedicated to proving this concept and then we made this decision that this is something that we want to embark on. So, of course, we need to make a return on the investment but for all of the things I’ve outlined with the momentum that we’ve