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ExecuJet MRO Services, a wholly owned subsidiary of Dassault Aviation, has world-class MRO facilities in Africa, Asia, Australia, Asia, Europe and the Middle East where major repair and refurbishment activities are conducted. Specialising in airframe, avionics and engine maintenance; aircraft engineers are trained and certified on a wide range of aircraft, including: Dassault, Bombardier, Embraer, Gulfstream, Hawker and various others. In an Exclusive interview, Nick Weber, Regional VP, Middle East, ExecuJet MRO Services speaks with Vishal Kashyap, Managing Editor, Aviation World on the various MRO capabilities of the ME facility, their customers and USP of being in Dubai. Excerpts… What are the services provided at the ExecuJet MRO Services Middle East? A: We provide comprehensive services across several OEM products and after being acquired by Dassault, over the last five years, we support the whole Dassault product line as well. That’s from the Falcon 8X, the 7X, the 6X now, that’s just been going into service, and the Falcon 900s and the 2000s. We also support all the Bombardier Business Aircraft right now for the 7500 through all the Global series, down to the Challenger series, the 650, 605, 604, Challenger 350, Challenger 300, and the Legacy 45 and 60. We also still support, although the numbers are dwindling within region, the 789 series Hawker aircraft. In addition, as an Embraer authorized service center, we support the Legacy, the Phenom series, Praetor series. In fact, all the Embraer business aircraft line. Additionally, up and above, we obviously are Honeywell, the Rockwell Collins, GE, and a Rolls-Royce service center and we support those engine platforms. More to do with line maintenance and engine removal refits on those product lines which enhances our offering to the general aviation community. When they bring the aircraft in, we can do the engine work, the airframe work. Over and above, we look at expanding more into avionics modifications and that’s a growing business for us. We also have the back shops, which is the battery line; wheel shop, where we do wheel overhauls and then we have the NDT line ( Non Destructive Testing), which is also a growing business for us. What are the MRO capabilities in terms of fleet maintenance & approvals of this facility? A: ExecuJet MRO Services Middle East is capable of base maintenance up to and inclusive of C-checks. So, those are the real heavy inspections. Right down through the minor inspections and obviously line and base capability on all those 4-set aircraft that I had mentioned above. We also support 18 different NAA approvals (Civil Aviation Regulators) the major ones being the local GCAA, the FAA and the Indian DGCA and in terms of capability, they’re much aligned ,so, we’re capable of C-checks across all those 18 approvals that we hold. Dubai being one of the hubs of aviation, the demand must be huge in terms of maintenance. How are you equipped and how do you manage the service for your clients? A: Well, firstly, you’ve got the installed base in the Middle East, and a large quantity or a large amount of those aircraft are actually based in Dubai. So, we’re supporting all those regional customers. But around 45% of our work is supporting visiting aircraft, aircraft transiting through Dubai and it could be even Indian operators, and they might be on their way to Europe, or we see a lot of European aircraft coming into the Middle East, and they might be on their way to Asia. So, we support a large amount of those aircraft as well. AOG is a crucial issue and how do you tackle these issues to minimise the clients timelines? A: Internally, we’ve got the teams that cover base maintenance activity, and we also have a line team that specifically focus on doing line maintenance activities. And they work 12 hours a day on site. However, they are on call 24×7. They are widely licensed, so a lot of the engineers or most of the engineers can be dispatched quite promptly to wherever the aircraft is. And we support AOG activities across, obviously across the region, but we’ll go right down to Southern Africa, Zambia, Seychelles, Maldives, Kazakhstan. So, we’re supporting a lot of aircraft throughout the region. Often, sometimes aircraft that are on ground are hindered through the registry that they might hold. So, even though OEMs might come to us, and we’ve had it in the past with the local GCA, where we’ve had to go to Reykjavik to support an aircraft. So, we’ve got extensive reach on AOG. It’s such a crucial phase of airside operations that any operators would not like to face and need a quick solution to that big issue, actually. Have you found that sometimes if you help an operator out with an AOG, that maybe because of the goodwill that’s been developed, because you help them in that difficult situation, that it’s then helped you maybe later on to get some of the heavy check work done? A: Most definitely. I think just recently there was an operator with a Falcon that was based out of Europe. They had never visited our facility. We assisted them. Subsequently, they visited us for some mining work. They are looking seriously at bringing in C-checkers later in 2025. So, that’s a good example. It’s a window for us to go out there. That’s why we see a lot of importance in obviously supporting AOG activities. We have got a dedicated team to do line maintenance, but they also support the AOG. If we haven’t got the depth within that team, then we pull personnel from the hangar floor to support their activities. Q: Do you find that being in Dubai might be a strategic advantage for you because is so well connected to different points in the world that you can get there? A: Exactly! Geographically, we’re very centrally located and, yes, we have got all the airliners as you said, supporting multiple destinations. So, it’s

Air India Engineering Services Ltd (AIESL) is India’s biggest DGCA approved MRO having Pan-India presence. The MRO caters to majority of the needs of Indian carriers as well as few foreign carriers. In an exclusive interview, Sharad Agarwal, CEO, AIESL speaks with Vishal Kashyap, Managing Editor, Aviation World about the projects they handle, future plans looking into the growth potential, taxation and insights on building a robust MRO ecosystem in India. Sharing the excerpts… What is the current status of AIESL and type of projects you cater to and what are the plans ahead? A: AIESL is the only MRO in India which is in all four MRO segments. At present, we have been supporting Air India and other airlines for aircraft right from ATR-72, the A320s, Boeing 737, 777 and 787 and also 747. In last, as the country is getting MAX aircraft in a big way, we have enhanced our capability and today we are capable of even doing 12-year check on MAX aircraft. In future, first of all, we are concentrating on engines. We intend to doing some job on the biggest engine which is coming into India. There is an supply chain issue with engines worldwide and the pressure is much on the MRO side as well. So, how you are managing this situation? A: First of all, we cannot do any engine job without an OEM giving us a support. So OEM has to support us with the manuals, the spares, and if it is the first time we are doing a job, the training of some of the people. We are in touch and we have identified some problem areas which are a pain point for the both engine manufacturer and also the airlines. We are concentrating on supporting the OEMs to give airlines a quick turnaround time and we are very sure that we will be succeeding in that. At present, can you name some of the airlines that is under your umbrella for which maintenance AIESL does? A: In fact, within India every single major airlines, we have done some work or other. Besides that, last year there was a big news about Kuwait Airlines. We did a number of base checks on those aircraft. We are in touch with different airlines all over India, all over the world and we are keen to do it. Till about two years back, the biggest bottleneck we were having was that we were only having DGCA approval. So in the last couple of years, I have ensured that at least we get FAA approval for almost all aircraft at different locations so as to provide airlines a confidence that we stand to an international level and we have succeeded in that. So, this order book is growing. Indian Aviation is growing with so many aircraft orders are under the line. How you are prepared and further enhancing your capability to look into those upcoming works? A: First of all, see what was our pain points? Our hangars were over-booked and were over-flowing. Why? Because a lot of checks which can be done on tarmac, we had qualified them as base maintenance check. The first target was to enhance the line maintenance capability so that the jobs can be carried out on the tarmac. Once, we have achieved it, for almost every single aircraft, we have enhanced the line maintenance capabilities. Now, hangars will be there only for big checks, which are typically 6,000 hour check or higher. So none of the aircraft needs to visit the hangar before two years. This creates hangar space for us or the existing hangar space is being effectively utilized. Next, till may be three years back, we were using hangars only eight hours a day, five days a week. Atleast now, all our major hangars are working 16 hours a day, for seven days. Whenever we have a forecasted drop for the night, we are just staggering the shifts in such a way that someone is available for the night so that aircraft remains in the hangar overnight and flies away. So with this, the same hangars, the utilization has increased. With these two initiatives, I am very sure that Indian industry can handle even those 1,000 more aircraft which are coming in, in next five to ten years, with the existing hangars. Any plan for opening of new hangar in recent, down the line? A: You know that some greenfield airports are coming in and definitely we will target them. Recently the government has in fact supported the industry by waiving off the taxes. So how this is going to be helpful in the development of the sector? A: Not waiving off but rationalizing and it was a long demand from the industry. See, now what’s happening was, earlier in case we are buying the spares for an airline and we end up paying let us say 18% or 28% duty. We cannot bill the airlines for it because airlines is expecting us to take the Input credit in GST. Which, once we have paid 28% is 5% rate and for any component, see for line, for base maintenance maybe the spares was just about 10%. But when it comes to engine or component maintenance, the ratio is opposite. At least 90% is the material cost and just 10% is the labor cost. Now in case of 90% I end up paying 28% custom duty. That’s our GST. I cannot and there is no way to absorb that. This was making the entire business unbiased. This 5% on the aircraft, its components and its sub-components at least we are paying the labor. Are there any particular issues that you think that government need to address as of now? A: See one of the pain points which all MROs are facing is, especially for base maintenance.Each airlines will like it to be at an airport which is a major base for that airlines. Now there comes the

This growth phase is an indication of India becoming a hub for world-class aviation training… As the aviation industry undergoes significant transformation, the demand for skilled pilots is increasing reports indicates that India wil soon surpass the UK, becoming the third largest air passenger market globally. In this line, Vishal Kashyap, Managing Editor, Aviation World, interacted with Marijus Ravoitis, CEO, BAA Training, to discuss the company’s recent investments in expanding their infrastructure across Europe and their strategic plans for the Indian market. Excerpts… As mentioned, India is your primary sector with 50 % slots reserved for them. Till now, how many pilots have enrolled with you, and under which program? A: We have introduced an India-focused cadet training program, the Indian Cadet Program, which is specially designed to assist aspiring Indian pilots in achieving their dreams of becoming commercial pilots. This is the program that we are promoting in India because it responds to specific their home market needs. Currently, we have two batches of students enrolled in the program, which is a good indicator for the initial year. BAA Training provides both pilot cadet programs as well as type ratings. One involves individual choice while the other involves airlines’ decisions. How does your team in India maintain the sync between both segments? A: Our teams in India and Europe are interconnected and work collaboratively to ensure a smooth and efficient management process. This close cooperation allows us to tailor training experiences for individual cadets while aligning with the specific requirements of airlines for type ratings. For cadet programs, we offer training that equips students with the skills and certifications they need to meet industry standards. We guide them in making informed career choices, ensuring they are well-prepared for the diverse opportunities in aviation. For type rating courses, we partner with airlines to provide training tailored to their specific aircraft and operational needs. Our teams maintain strong communication with airline partners to ensure pilots are thoroughly trained to meet the highest standards. Additionally, with training centers across Europe, we bring the expertise and resources of our global network to India, ensuring a consistent and world-class training experience. Our integrated approach allows us to seamlessly manage cadet and type rating training, meeting the needs of both individual pilots and the airlines they serve. Two major airlines in India have their own training facilities now. Is it going to create the training sector more competitive? The presence of multiple players, including established and new entrants, is beneficial for the industry as it fosters competition, encourages innovation, and ensures access to modern technology. This growth phase is an indication of India becoming a hub for world-class aviation training, which not only meets domestic demand but also serves the international market. Tell us about the details of the BAA Training Facility in terms of its presence, number & type of aircraft for pilot training, and Type of simulators. A: Our main facilities are set up across Europe, covering the full scope of pilot training. We have both Ground School and Simulator Center in Vilnius, Lithuania, which currently houses two Airbus A320ceo, one A320ceo-neo, one Boeing 737 NG, and one B737 CL full flight simulators, as well as other flight training devices. Our Flight School, along with our second Ground School, is based at the Lleida-Alguaire International Airport, which creates an excellent setup for very realistic flight conditions because of the airport’s location. The airport is also close to other, larger ones, making it an ideal place to hone skills. We are also expanding our infrastructure there. We have bought additional 48 Cessna 172 Skyhawk aircraft, planned to be delivered by 2026, expanding our current 10 C172S’ fleet for initial flight training. We have also invested in our on-site, modern student accommodation, which is already under construction and expected to be completed in Q3 2025. Spain is also home to our Simulator Center in Barcelona. It has two A320ceo/neo and one B737 MAX full flight simulators as well as other flight training devices, and we already have infrastructure expansion plans in sight there. Next is our Paris Simulator Center in France, which has just recently expanded with a second A320neo full flight simulator, bringing the location’s simulator number to 5, along with two B737 NG and one B737-400 full flight simulators.Outside of Europe, our training center is in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, catering to the Asia-Pacific region. It currently houses an A320ceo, one A320neo, and B737 NG full flight simulators. Few globally renowned sim operators are doing big setup in India. And already three big ones have been operating for a long time. How do you see the sudden boom in this sector, which requires huge investment? A: This sudden boom in India reflects the growing demand for advanced training solutions and the increasing emphasis on safety, efficiency, and skill development in aviation. India’s aviation sector is expanding rapidly, with rising passenger traffic and a greater need for trained pilots, which, naturally, has created demand for high-quality simulation facilities. For globally-renowned simulator operators, India presents a strategic opportunity due to its developing aviation market, relatively lower operational costs, and the availability of a skilled workforce. While the sector does require significant investment, it also offers strong potential returns because of the long-term contracts and partnerships with airlines and aviation academies. As mentioned previously, the competition, at this stage of aviation industry in India, brings more benefits that challenges by encouraging innovation, and ensuring access to modern technology. Does BAA Training provide training for helicopter pilots as well as Business Aviation pilots? A: Currently, our focus is set on commercial aviation, and we mainly provide pilot training for those, who aspire to become airline pilots.

IAI’s NeuSPHERE Innovation Acceleration Program focuses on the Indian technology startup community, in particular inventive deep-tech startups focusing on big data, signal and image processing, advanced navigation systems, AI and autonomy, XR-maintenance and training, green energy, advanced production, quantum, edge computing, Human Machine Interfaces and wearable technology. It will provide the participating Indian startups access to advanced resources and technologies, including global mentorship and guidance, networking and funding, to accelerate their market-ready solutions. Dr. Avital Schrift, VP Core Tech at IAI, speaks with Vishal Kashyap, Managing Editor, Aviation World on this big announcements and explains on all points that makes this product important. I would like to know more about the product and how it is going to be part of the Indian market? A: IAI has launched its Innovation Acceleration Program in India called as ‘NuSphere’ aiming to enhance IAI’s collaboration with the Indian local technological community. Specifically aiming at technological startups, innovative deep tech technological startups and trying together with them to scale up their capability and bring them to the next level of products. How soon this product will be into the Indian market? What’s the timeline that you have set? A: The program is already launched and the applications are open for all the Indian startups to apply. By February we are going to close the applications. We are going to have a selection committee that will select out of all the applications the three first startups to participate in our program. And those startups together with us will develop their proof of concept and later on be able to develop it and demonstrate it. So like you said, it is going to do for the startups. Who are your customers, the startups into the drone or the defense? Or, can you please focus upon the sectors that you are targeting? A: We are focusing on 10 specific technological areas. The main of which are image processing, AI, big data, autonomous navigation. There are 10 quantum computing, edge computing. Those are two important areas. Essentially, we are looking on those really deep tech technologies that can make an impact on our products. So we want to take the technology that was born in India and integrate it into our products to be sold again to India and across the globe. IAI is a very good partner for the Ministry of Defense and there are many avenues that both the countries are exploring in India. Is this program or software is also a part of making India concept or something like that? A: This is another step in the making India concept taking it to the next level because making India can be interpreted as just taking our own design and doing it in India. Here we are looking for an Indian invention. Something that was already created from the first in India, taking the Indian knowledge and capabilities and integrating it into our products. As far as the incubation center is concerned, where is it located? A: It’s a virtual concept. So right now we have Greenhouse Ventures company that will help us in running the program. They are located here in Delhi. The meetings when we need to will be made either virtually or in Delhi. The demo day, the pitch events, all the events will be in Delhi but the program as a whole will be run virtually.So the startups can remain where they are. They don’t need to come to Delhi. India is very big and we are reaching everywhere in India.So we didn’t want to force the startups to come to Delhi. They can remain wherever they are. So it is also going to add some employment opportunity into India with this program? A: Once those startups will create their concept together with us and be selected to move to the next step of doing a POC, yes, of course, we want to translate their idea into a product that will be sold worldwide. So, of course, those startups will be able to grow. In fact, during the presentation, you are going to hear our first example of an Indian startup named BosonQ dealing with quantum computing that we have already started to work with. And for the time being, we were able to secure to this startup almost five million US dollars of investments, foreign investments.So it’s a big deal and they can sort of testify to the benefits that they had from cooperating with IAI. In the long term, how is it going to synergize the IAI presence into the Indian market with this product? A: That’s an amazing idea. We are going to take Indian-made technology and translate it into IAI products that will be sold worldwide. So we are going to take the ideas, scale them up, and take them to the next level of being able to translate an idea to a product and to a system. This is what IAI does. We specialize in systems of systems. So we are going to take this very small idea and help it grow, develop, and essentially it’s going to remain an Indian idea. Any specific point that you want to highlight as a USP of this particular product? A: We believe very much in working with the Indian startup community.We chose specifically India to be the second country to which we will go globally. The first was USA, India is the second because we believe in the Indian technological community.We want to contribute to it, and we are going to benefit from it as well.

Royal Jordanian is a truly boutique airline with some special soft touch points “ In line with the “Explore Jordan” program, Royal Jordanian has announced the launch of direct flights between its national capital Amman to Mumbai and Delhi this year. The Mumbai route will operate with four weekly flights starting on April 17, 2025, and the Delhi route will commence with four weekly flights starting on September 17, 2025. These new routes align with Royal Jordanian’s growth and expansion strategy, focusing on positioning Jordan as a premier tourism destination for the Indian market and enhancing connectivity to over 45 global destinations. At an event in Delhi, Karim Makhlouf, Chief Commercial Officer at Royal Jordanian Airlines, in an interview with Vishal Kashyap, Managing Editor, Aviation World adds on more on the plans ahead. Excerpts… Tell us about your journey with Royal Jordanian? A: When I joined Royal Jordanian four years ago, we started to change the way we do business. Our new strategy is a bit different to other airlines and is focused primarily on tourism into Jordan because I can tell you clearly that Jordan is a cool destination and it’s very difficult for other destinations to compete with Jordan. While as an airline of course it’s not so easy to compete with everyone, so that’s why tourism into Jordan is it and that’s our new prime focus is to increase the awareness of Jordan which is still relatively niche and urgent is a fundamental new strategy for Royal Jordanian Airlines. What’s the strategy and offer you have for tourists? A: We are a 61-year-old airline and we are one of the pioneer airlines in the Gulf and Middle East way before Emirates and Etihad and so on were founded. So one can imagine the change in this strategy was not that easy from a corporate culture level but as an aviation passionate and aviation expert, I strongly believe that this is our only chance to survive. The second strategy and pillar is to develop Amman, the capital of Jordan, not just as the hub for Jordan but for the Levant. Levant is an area in the Middle East which we call Levant with the surrounding countries of Jordan where you have Syria, Iraq, Palestine, you have even Cyprus. These are markets which lack obviously strong national carriers and here we want to make a difference and position ourselves in this niche which has 140 million population is a very strong hub. So tourism in combination with the Levant strategy will be the fundamental success for growth. This growth is really big for a small country like Jordan so we are planning to double the number of our passengers from three million passengers which we used to have before COVID to 7.1 million passengers by 2027-28. Two million out of these tourists and hopefully a lot from India and we will as well doubling our fleet to 43 aircraft.We used to have 23 aircraft and we’ll have 43 aircraft by 2027 and as of March we are receiving 20 brand new jets until 2026 mainly the A320neo and the 787-8. What’s the USP of Royal Jordanian Airlines? A: Now for a country like Jordan tourism and Royal Jordanian is a very important driver of the GDP. So only Royal Jordanian makes about 5% of the GDP and tourism and as such makes around 20% so you can imagine that the success of Royal Jordanian and of tourism will as well help the country to progress and develop further. I would say that we are a boutique airline, so we have a very nice product. I’m trying to have a contemporary modern truly Arabian flavor in our product because we are not targeting global to global connectors like other carriers in the region. We are really focused on becoming a truly boutique airline with some special soft touch points. But our hardware our product will be state of the art. We will have a brand new A320neo business class seats and even the economy seats will be with in-flight entertainment on every seat and with wi-fi on board. Of course we have a meal service and all the other stuff which is needed for a nice experience. On our brand new 787-9 we will have a new suite as such starting as of December this year and we are using this aircraft right now mainly to the US where we have five destinations in North America. But of course India could be as well a target for the 787 if we successfully develop our tourism strategy as such. These are impressions from our lounge from our product. How conveniently located is Amman Airport and which all country it connects with? A: Amman is a very convenient airport as it’s not too big. It’s easy especially for point-to-point travelers so boutique airline as such. I’m promoting the tourism strategy globally since three four years as I joined the airline and we opened a lot of new destinations. In the last couple of years, 15 brand new destinations are opened , be it in Europe, Manchester, London Stansted, Brussels, Stockholm, Milan, Berlin all for tourism . How much impact is on Jordan due to disturbed neighboring countries? A: Our priority is tourism into Jordan and the awareness of Jordan globally is relatively low and that’s why the strategy started to work very well until the geopolitical situation happened but this is just an interruption and we strongly believe that tourism will come back very strong this year once the situation gets a bit quiet but talking about politics Jordan was is and will always be like the Switzerland of the Middle East we were never involved in any of these conflicts. Jordan is even a safe heaven for a lot of Syrians, Iraqis, Palestinians, so it’s a very-very safe place and as a German, I can tell you Jordan is even sometimes perceived safer than Germany. So this is something which