Contributor - Middle East

Peter Shaw-Smith

The FBO market at Dubai Al-Maktoum International Airport (DWC) is becoming somewhat crowded, with five general and business aviation ground-handling facilities to soon be on the field. To stand out from the crowd, Falcon Aviation is leveraging its line maintenance with AOG coverage and newly added helicopter transfer service at DWC.


After opening its FBO facility in the Dubai South VIP terminal in December, Falcon Aviation started maintenance services as a precursor to more expansive coverage it will offer when its 215,300-sq-ft (20,000-sq-m) MRO hangar is completed later next year. Falcon’s FBO is complemented by a helicopter charter service provided by Falcon Aviation from its newly certified heliport located adjacent to its facility.


Yesterday, H.H. Sheikh Mansoor bin Mohammed Al-Maktoum conducted an inspection of DWC’s VIP terminal, which currently houses two FBOs under one roof—Jetex Flight Support and Falcon. Jet Aviation will soon be a third tenant there. The facility was officially opened by H.H. Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, head of Dubai’s Civil Aviation Authority and Emirates Airline, earlier this year.


“Sheikh Mansoor bin Mohammed landed in our helicopter service. We are managing the heliport at DWC. It is an ‘ad hoc,’ rather than a regular service,” said Falcon COO Capt. Raman Oberoi. “We have certified [it] now with the UAE’s General Civil Aviation Authority. We would like to grow this service.”


According to Oberoi, “Falcon’s line maintenance facility is doing very well, which is adding to the FBO. Most aircraft require maintenance service, and we are able to provide it. So that adds to our business. That’s the plan. With our MRO hangar coming in another 16 months, we will be able to provide FBO, MRO and our helicopter service.”


Meanwhile, ExecuJet Aviation expects to leave its temporary FBO facility at DWC for a new complex in late 2018. DC Aviation Al-Futtaim was the first company to set up an FBO at DWC in 2013, and Jet Aviation is using this facility, on a temporary basis, to provide FBO services until moving into its new location at the Dubai South VIP Terminal in the third quarter.

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