Global trip support provider Jetex has signed an MOU with African airport management company Aeria to be the exclusive FBO operator of the newly-built FBO at Felix-Houphouët-Boigny International Airport in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. Jetex will take over management of the facility in July. “We are happy to appoint Jetex as sole and exclusive FBO in Abidjan,” said Aeria CEO Gilles Darriau. “Jetex has high standards for FBOs which is exactly what we’re looking for.”

For Jetex, the 10,800-sq-ft/1,000-sq-m facility is its first in West Africa, and its second in the region after Morocco. “We chose Abidjan because it is an economic powerhouse for West Africa,” noted Salam Youssef, Jetex president for Europe. “It’s a very urbanized and industrial city.”

At the end of July, Jetex will continue its expansion into Europe with the opening of a new FBO in the general aviation terminal at Dublin Airport. It will feature private lounges for crew and passenger, as well as access to a “platinum" lounge. Services will include concierge, ground handling, fuel and full dispatch package with support from the company’s operation centers in Dubai, Miami, and Beijing. “Ireland is preparing for a surge in air traffic in the coming years,” said company president and CEO Adel Mardini.

"We're excited to expand our FBO network to include Dublin. Private jet traffic at the facility is around 3,500 departures a year and is expected to grow steadily. Six miles north of the Irish capital, the airport is the busiest in the country, with 80,000 passengers transiting it every day. “Dublin is booming right now,” said Brendan McQuaid, the FBO’s managing director. “The airport itself is scaling up, and there are so many jet operators and corporations that generate a lot of air traffic.”