Al Bateen airport posts major growth

Abu Dhabi Airports Company (ADAC) on Monday announced that Al Bateen Executive Airport saw significant growth in business aviation in its half-year results, with almost 40 per cent growth in private jet movements versus the same period last year. The news follows the recent addition of Al Bateen’s fifth operator, Rotana Jet, which launched operations with a Gulfstream G450 jet in early 2011. Commercial movements also witnessed an overall 12 per cent growth for the period from January to June 2011 versus the same period in 2010. This equates to over 4,500 commercial movements for the first half of the year. Stephen Jones, General Manager at Al Bateen Executive Airport commented: “Al Bateen is seeing outstanding performance in the growth of business jet movements, especially from visiting aircraft and new operators that have not used the airport before. Traffic will continue to grow as more business aircraft operators such as Rotana Jet, will be basing aircraft at Abu Dhabi Airports Company’s dedicated business aviation airport.” Al Bateen Executive Airport recently unveiled its new FBO “DhabiJet” and Jones attributes the good news in large part to a step change in service levels: “The changes that Abu Dhabi Airports Company has implemented recently, such as the professional team that has been put in place at DhabiJet, the exclusive FBO product with a range of exclusive new services, are all being very well received by the market and the traffic results are solid evidence of that,” Stephen Jones added. Jones also said: “There is no doubt that Al Bateen is the perfect tech stop location because of its ease of access, short turnarounds and top quality services, which make it a highly attractive and cost effective stopping point for long flights.” “ADAC is contributing significantly to improving support services for our clients and for the continued growth of our business at Al Bateen”, added Jones. Al Bateen Executive Airport is a dedicated business jet airport, the first of its kind in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region; conveniently located only a five kilometres from the central business district of Abu Dhabi. The downtown location of Al Bateen Executive Airport makes it ideal for users of business jets, whose time is valuable and who have a high-regard for the convenience that personalised jet travel can bring. ADAC is a public joint-stock company wholly owned by the Abu Dhabi Government. It was incorporated by Amiri Decree number 5, issued on 4 March 2006, to spearhead the development of the Emirate’s aviation infrastructure. In September 2006, ADAC assumed responsibility for the operation and management of Abu Dhabi and Al Ain International Airports. In 2008, ADAC added Al Bateen Executive Airport and Sir Bani Yas and Delma Island Airports to its portfolio. From / Gulf Today