It was a famous Chinese philosopher who once said:
“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”
Many people involved with MEBAA will recognise that the saying applies very much to what we are trying to do.
MEBAA was formed in June 2006 through recognition that the business aviation industry operating throughout the Middle East and North Africa region needed to speak with a single voice.
The industry is relatively small when compared to the airline industry in our region – but as you will read in this Review and elsewhere, it is an industry that is growing in its importance in the region.
Business aviation is an essential tool for economic development and wealth-generation through productivity enhancement of all resources inclusive of time that go as inputs to any enterprise. Sadly, it is often misunderstood. This incorrect perception is derived mostly from the cost angle alone, condemning it as an expensive adjunct that can easily be dispensed with. However, if one views it as an essential business management tool for timely decision making and as a part of organisational assets to run a business, all these unfounded doubts will be erased from the public mind. After all, no sensible person would expect their firemen and other emergency services personnel to use public transport when time is of the essence.
Also, business aviation as an industry is a great generator of jobs and revenue but more importantly business aviation is used by the community of people that themselves make wealth for countries and
organisations.
It is said that business jets are the first to arrive in areas of the world that will see the next spate of industrial growth and economic development. They are followed by the airline premium classes and then finally the airlines in greater numbers.
A single owner or charter company can never make the impact with a government that the ambassadors for our industry would like. That is why we need an organisation like MEBAA.
The organisation is strictly non-profit. It is there to serve the members and sometimes the development is not as quick as some members might like. But it is important to note that we are making immense progress.
We are strong members of the International Business Aviation Council (IBAC) and work closely with our peer organisations like the NBAA (National Business Aviation Association) in the United States and EBAA (European Business Aviation Association) in Europe.
Because of this we have a voice at a global level about the issues affecting our industry. We also have a voice at a regional level. More of the MENA civil aviation authorities are consulting us about decisions that affect the airspace we share with our friends from the airlines.
It is essential that we have the voice at this table. We need the different aviation authorities to understand more about our industry – that we are not like scheduled airlines which can plan ahead of time for regular journeys.
We also need traffic controllers to understand that our aircraft are high performance and our pilots have different workloads compared to commercial air transport pilots.
So we have a job to do developing awareness of business aviation in the region. This important task is better done by a single group rather than by dozens of individuals from different companies getting frustrated at a reluctance of the authorities to meet yet another operator.
MEBAA is determined to take business aviation further up the economic and political agenda in this region and to ensure it receives its rightful share with a voice in decision-making processes.
We are the industry forum that expresses the needs of operators responsible for approximately 450 business aircraft currently based in the region, with a considerable fleet increase anticipated. The Association is a single point of contact for presenting the face of business aviation to government, media and industry. It is also the means by which the regional business aviation community will address government legislation and raise public perceptions of the industry.
We have established initial goals, including the setting up of an industry data-bank that has been so long lacking in the Middle East. We will share best practices, implement effective communications strategies, improve members’ welfare through training and conferences, and establish a regional industry code of conduct.
We are already working on plans for MEBA 2010, the business aviation show for the region. This premier event is destined to become the third largest business aviation show in the world and will help support MEBAA financially.
MEBA 2008 was a huge success with more than 5,500 trade visitors and 250 exhibitors at the three-day event. On the static park we featured more than 70 aircraft worth $1.6bn. We welcomed representatives from 30 countries, aircraft purchase deals worth $1.5bn were concluded, and dozens of partnerships were struck between Western and Middle Eastern companies.
MEBAA members will enjoy special rates at next year’s event and play a significant role in further developing the reputation of our Association and our industry.
There are many other things on our agenda. Training for example, as we need more pilots and we need young pilots to recognise that business aviation is both challenging and rewarding. The need to visit different airfields at different times and to be part of the great adventure of Business Aviation is appealing. But this adventure is unique and I hope that with MEBAA’s support we will find new and better ways for pilots to meet these challenges.
MEBAA is in good shape and we have had a fruitful year despite the downturn. We are continuing to grow our membership, but there are still companies out there that have yet to join our ranks.
I urge companies in the business aviation sector with an interest in seeing improvements and growth in the way we operate in the region, to join us.
We welcome interested aviation businesses and professionals who are dedicated to promoting and improving business aviation throughout the region to contact us today for more information about MEBAA membership opportunities.
I am also pleased to introduce this annual review. You will see in here the types of organisations that play a part in MEBAA, and you will also see some of the available statistics and details about our industry in the region and comparisons with world trends. You will also read about some of the issues that we face.
We continue to need your feedback to help us to take the next steps in that journey of a thousand miles.
Ali Al Naqbi
Founding Chairman