Business Fleet Report YE 2022 MENA

COUNTRY SNAPSHOTS
significant drop in demand for air travel, which had a significant impact on the
country’s aviation industry. Exports reduced by 30%, which resulted in 17,500
redundancies in 2020. The overall economy contracted by 6.3% that year, but
has since recovered to grow by 7.4% in 2022.
Morocco and Israel signed an agreement in the first quarter of 2022 to
collaborate on civilian aviation projects, bolstering the prospect of the
sector gaining a stronger foothold in the country.
After two years of decline due to disruptions in air travel caused by the
global pandemic, the MENA region’s business jet fleet had started to
grow again. As scheduled commercial flights were disrupted, the region’s
established capacity of business jets became a driving force in maintaining
invaluable operations for business, private, and humanitarian needs.
Business jet travel had been highlighted as a viable tool for achieving a
variety of goals through sporting events such as the FIFA World Cup 2022
in Qatar, humanitarian operations in Iraq, and increased demand for air
travel within the MENA region. Furthermore, a strengthening of trade and
diplomatic relations between nations in the MENA region also looked set
to stimulate additional demand for business jet travel in the region, as
evidenced with the Abraham Accords agreement signed between the UAE
and Israel.
MAJOR COUNTRY SNAPSHOTS
United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates had 128 business jets, having grown by 27
jets with four new deliveries, 36 pre-owned additions, and 13 deductions
- more than any other country in the MENA region in 2022. The UAE
accounted for 31% of MENA’s jet fleet, with a fleet 36% bigger than the
next largest market, Saudi Arabia. Over half of the UAE’s fleet was based
in Dubai, while around a quarter (including the majority of Corporate
Airliners) were based in the capital of Abu Dhabi. Approximately 40% of
the fleet was registered locally (A6-). Five of the top ten operators in the
region had a base in the UAE, four of which saw expansions in their fleets.
Bombardier was the most popular OEM with around a third of the
UAE fleet, while Boeing was the most popular Corporate Airliner OEM,
which includes 19 BBJ1 and BBJ2 models in the UAE fleet. Boeing had
over a fifth of the UAE fleet with a range of models from the 737 to the
787, which were primarily operated by Dubai Air Wing, Royal Jet, and
Presidential Flight. Besides BBJ1 with 15 aircraft, the most popular
aircraft models in the UAE include the Global 5000, Global 6000, Legacy
600, and G650, each with seven aircraft. The UAE led the charts for
having the highest proportion of Corporate Airliner, Large, and Long
Range aircraft in the region, while the Medium and Very Light aircraft
take a merger 13% of UAE’s total fleet. The average age of aircraft across
the fleet was 13 years, which was below the regional average of 15 years.
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia had 82 business jets, down by seven year-on-year with
three pre-owned additions and ten deductions. Having had arguably the
largest fleet of business jets in the region before the onset of the global
pandemic, it accounted for just under 20% of MENA’s fleet in 2022. The
majority of business jets (65%) were based in the administrative capital
of Riyadh, while around a third were based in Jeddah. Just over 40% of
the fleet was registered locally (HZ-), while aircraft with registrations
in the United States (N) and the Cayman Islands (VP-C) making up
more than 45% of the fleet. Three of the top ten MENA operators had a
presence in the country. NAS Private Aviation and Sky Prime Aviation
Services had the largest fleets in Saudi Arabia, with nine aircraft each.
Despite a reduction of one aircraft from the previous year, Gulfstream
remained the most popular OEM in the country. Gulfstream’s most
popular model, the G450, had ten aircraft in the fleet, while the Hawker
10 | YE 2022 MENA BUSINESS JET FLEET REPORT