Business was booming over the three-day Middle East Business Aviation held at Dubai International’s Airport Expo with sales announced at the show topping $1.5 billion (Rs 7,490 crore) as well as breaking new ground on strategic partnerships. PHIL NASSKAU reports from Dubai.

While global economic woes have already shaken up the banking industry there are signs that ripples are spreading into the commercial airline industry. But business aviation, particularly the Middle Eastern sector, appears to be showing only small signs of slowing down. This year’s Middle East Business Aviation (MEBA) was a solid success. With exhibitors fighting for static display space, the show organisers reported more than 70 aircraft on display worth a staggering $1.6 billion (Rs 7,987 crore)—most of which were up for sale—and 250 exhibitors.

Business was booming over the three-day exhibition held at Dubai International’s Airport Expo with sales announced at the show topping $1.5 billion (Rs 7,490 crore) as well as breaking new ground on strategic partnerships. As the curtains came down, Middle East Business Aviation Association founding Chairman Ali Al Naqbi said: This event was perfect. It was three times as big as 2007 and exhibitors have told me that they had direct access to the people they needed to do business with. After all the deals and announcements we have seen at MEBA 2008, we can be assured that the market is growing and that there is plenty of confidence out there.

People are still prepared to invest
Speaking to SP’s Aviation ahead of the show, the head of Dubai’s civil aviation authority and Chairman of Emirates Airlines HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed al Maktoum said the business aviation sector could help arrest global recession. The people that fly in business aircraft come to do business. They invest and they support development. A show like MEBA is a good indication that people are still prepared to invest.

Sheikh Ahmed was unable to attend the opening of the show, but the UAE’s Minister of the Economy and Chairman of its General Civil Aviation Authority HE Sultan Bin Saeed Al Mansouri was present and warned that the biggest threat to business aviation is not the global recession but a shortage of skilled labour. The minister warned that while the industry continues to expand, the human resources base is diminishing: While I am most confident of continued growth, I urge the business aviation community to be aware of the fact that the current pool of human resources will shrink. This is a significant challenge and may impact growth.

However, the minister remained up-beat about the state of the industry in the UAE and the wider Middle East, stressing that UAE’s open skies policy, combined with the country’s massive investment in aviation-related infrastructure, has delivered many benefits to business aviation and provided a platform for it to grow further. The Middle East, in general, and the Gulf States, in particular, resemble a healthy market for business aviation aircraft.