< PreviousNovember 2019 · AVIATION BUSINESS 30 www.aviationbusinessme.com 2019 AVIATION BUSINESS AWARDS ama Aviation believes that what sets it apart is its breadth, depth and scale. It was ranked the top operator based on fl ight activity in 2017 and 2018, fl eet size and acquisitions. Gama’s portfolio of operating approvals and expertise across all business aviation aircraft types – and mission types – translates to “expedited solutions” for aircraft owners, the fi rm says. The group continues to invest in the Middle East region, particularly by developing its capabilities and operating approvals in Saudi Arabia and the UAE. In 2018, Gama fl ew over 90,000 fl ight hours. That is 29,000 hours more than the number two ranked operator, it says. In 2016, it fl ew over 54,000 fl ight hours and over 80,000 fl ight hours in 2017, demonstrating an increasing customer base. Each of Gama’s aircraft owners are assigned an ‘aircraft guardian’ to man- age their asset. This aims to ensure its service delivery continues to exceed cli- ent expectations. Luckily, Gama says, it has “very loyal” clients, with an average tenure of over 10 years. One of its core strengths is focusing on the fi nancial performance of clients’ assets, which it regards as extremely important during times of reduced profi tability. For exam- ple, it is able to provide some of the best insurance and crew training rates in the industry, due to the scale of its fl eet and crew members and the resulting buying power. Gama has to be on top of its game to remain among the best providers. Since 1983 it has been serving some of the most discerning clientele in the world. There are many considerations to be made when managing a high value, complex asset for a client. Gama sees its role as facilitating the enjoyment of the owner’s aircraft, maintaining the asset’s value and minimising operating costs. It helps to achieve this in three ways. One, through its people and service style; two, through its focus on maintaining availability; and thirdly, leveraging its scale to enhance fi nancial performance. To deliver this, it has the strength and depth required to provide clients with a platform to perform. Geographically, Gama operates bases on fi ve continents with multiple facilities in the Middle and Far East, Europe and the US. This year it has redoubled focus on the ME region. Oliver Hewson, commercial manager for Gama Aviation, accepted the award. He commented: “Gama is obviously a very global company and it’s taken a lot of teamwork from all of the regions to get us where we are today as a UK plc. Here in the region, we’ve expanded quite quickly. We’ve been here for 10 years and we’re lucky enough now to have a pres- ence in Saudi too. There has been lots of hard work over the last two years and the whole team is ecstatic. They all deserve [the award]. I think the tenure we keep clients for and the feedback we get from clients is testament to the quality of ser- vice we give to them. Managing aircraft is a really dynamic service. There are so many variables to consider and we’ve worked really hard to focus on things like fi nances, accounts and reporting so we can answer the questions that our clients have.” BUSINESS AIRCRAFT OPERATOR OF THE YEAR GAMA AVIATION FINALISTS • DC AVIATION AL FUTTAIM • EMPIRE AVIATION GROUP (HIGHLY COMMENDED) • EXECUJET MIDDLE EAST • GAMA AVIATION • JET AVIATION 31 November 2019 · AVIATION BUSINESS www.aviationbusinessme.com tihad Engineering registered record growth in its client base, which was refl ected in its revenue as well as number of inputs handled through the year and man-hours delivered to customers from all over the world. The growth in revenue despite challenging market conditions and a highly competi- tive landscape in the MRO industry was achieved through a multi-pronged strat- egy. This year, Etihad continued to increase the share of third-party customers in its portfolio and expanded its customer base signifi cantly across continents. A particular highlight for the fi rm was its 12-year check on an A380. This is a major milestone in aircraft maintenance and was carried out at Etihad’s 500,000 square metre facility in Abu Dhabi, which employs professionals from over 60 na- tions. The check took 90,000 man-hours to complete. More than 100 engineers and technicians worked on the project day and night and more than 1,000,000 parts were removed and replaced during the sophisticated project. The full check took 98 days and the aircraft was delivered to the customer on time with high customer satisfaction. With its Airbus A350 approval, Etihad also became the fi rst MRO in the Middle East to carry out A350 heavy maintenance on-site. The company has already com- pleted heavy maintenance for a num- ber of A350 aircraft for LATAM Airlines group, now owned by Delta, including full stripping and painting of the air- craft in LATAM’s livery. Throughout the year, Etihad Engineering applied its out- of-the-box growth thinking to tap into new markets and customer segments worldwide, building strategic relation- ships with leading industry players like Moog, BigRep, EOS as well as TARMAC Aerosave and FAdeA. A crucial part of Etihad Engineering’s growth this year has been building market presence around the world through key industry exhibitions and conferences. It made its presence felt at key industry events all over the world and grew brand awareness through advertising and me- dia coverage in leading online and print publications. The achievements of Etihad Engineering were covered in regional and international media throughout the year and this was further complemented by strategic ad- vertising and marketing campaigns in leading publications targeting the aviation industry amounting to a reach of more than 100,000 people worldwide. Connecting with business-to-business customer bases through an active online presence was also a focus for the company throughout 2019. For example, Etihad Engineering’s business page on LinkedIn grew by more than 150% from 5,000 to 14,000 followers in one year, with one of the highest engagements in the industry. Its website registered more than 77,000 page views by more than 22,000 unique visitors between August 2018 and August 2019, demonstrating a keen interest from the industry in its various engineering and MRO services. While the client base grew with new customers being added to the company portfolio, work and revenue grew as a result of Etihad’s focus on customer sat- isfaction, which stayed above 8.6 on a 10 point scale throughout the year. MRO SERVICE PROVIDER OF THE YEAR ETIHAD ENGINEERING FINALISTS • ETIHAD ENGINEERING • EXECUJET MRO SERVICES • JET AVIATION DUBAI • SANAD AEROTECH (HIGHLY COMMENDED)November 2019 · AVIATION BUSINESS 32 www.aviationbusinessme.com 2019 AVIATION BUSINESS AWARDS lpha Aviation Academy has trained over 650 pi- lots from more than 70 nationalities since its inception. With the cur- rent rate and pace of its development, it claims to have become the Middle East’s leading pilot training provider and one of the world’s largest and most-recognised providers of the Multi-Crew Pilot License (MPL). Recently, it opened its doors to its 53rd batch of cadets. Since August 2018, about 100 cadets have attended Alpha’s academy and its staff team saw an addition of 29 employees. Currently, Alpha has nearly 200 cadets in training and 126 cadets undergoing their training with Air Arabia. Since January, 30 graduates have signed their permanent contracts with Air Arabia. Alpha’s cadets are trained to surpass the requirements and standards of future airline pilots through instilling an air- line mindset at the onset of classroom lectures and incorporating the latest airline practices early in the training. The training incorporates state-of-the-art facilities to build the skills, knowledge and attitude of cadets during all phases of the programme. Alpha’s staff receive in-house training and mentoring as soon as they join the organisation and it has recently partnered with Udemy Business, an online learning platform with more than 2,500 courses, to cultivate a culture of continuous learning and development. With the increasing pilot shortage globally, Boeing has recently predicted that 800,000 new pilots will be needed over the next 20 years, with over 10% of that fi gure required across the Middle East. Alpha annually receives more than 10,000 enquiries and over 500 applica- tions with around 90 slots available for its programme. While it recognises that it can by no means solve the pilot shortage itself, it is always looking to the future. The academy has just moved to a new facility that is equipped with the latest training equipment, technologies and learning resources that accommodates an increasing number of students and facilitates an improved environment that is more conducive to productive and comfortable learning. Irrespective of whether a potential cadet chooses to train with Alpha or not, it proactively directs all of its eff orts and energy to encourage anyone and everyone in the society, who is keen on pursuing a pilot career, to do so. Recently, Alpha expanded its capability to Europe and Australia by partnering with Airways Aviation, Additionally, it expanded its capability to Asia through forging a partnership with Alpha Aviation Group Philippines. The fi rm also launched a regional alliance with Etihad Aviation Training (EAT). Alpha regards the reward as a “fan- tastic achievement” for its team and for its management. It believes it won the award because of its focus on the qual- ity of training, the attention it gives to placements and its commitment to equal opportunities for all candidates. Next year, the company will be in- vesting in new simulators and will be installing artifi cial intelligence in some of the simulators, which it thinks could be a fi rst for the region. TRAINING PROVIDER OF THE YEAR ALPHA AVIATION ACADEMY FINALISTS • ALPHA AVIATION ACADEMY • BLUE OCEAN ACADEMY • EMRILL SERVICES • ETIHAD AVIATION TRAINING • VISION CONCEPT AVIATION INSTITUTE (HIGHLY COMMENDED)33 November 2019 · AVIATION BUSINESS www.aviationbusinessme.com ne of Jet Aviation’s unique selling points is its ability to support comprehensive busi- ness aviation services to the highest standards throughout its network of global loca- tions. The company’s service off erings include MRO, completions and refur- bishment, Jet Aviation FBO and fuel, air- craft management, charter and staffi ng services. Jet Aviation’s Dubai FBO customers have always had close ties to the com- pany’s fl agship MRO and completions facility in Basel, the fi rm says. They can also benefi t from the service capabilities of Jet’s MRO hub in Singapore and its facility in Hong Kong. In the last year, the Basel facility opened a new state-of-the-art wide-body hangar to provide increased capacity for wide- and narrow-body maintenance, completion and refurbishment projects across the region. It also supported the unveiling of Boeing Business Jets’ new BBJ 777X at MEBAA 2018 with a VIP cabin concept and delivered three extensive refurbishments on a Boeing 747 and two Gulfstream GIVs, all of which included Ka Band installations. In May 2018, Jet Aviation expanded its global network and portfolio with the acquisition of Hawker Pacifi c, a provider of civil MRO, fl eet and FBO services, and aircraft sales across Asia Pacifi c and the Middle East. The company’s signifi cant FBO network growth with Hawker Pacifi c was followed by the acquisition of the KLM Jet Center businesses in Amsterdam and Rotterdam in October 2018. Earlier in the year, the company established ground-handling services at Prince Abdul Mohsin Bin Abdulaziz Regional Airport in Yanbu, Saudi Arabia. Towards the end of this year, the com- pany has been following expansion plans in the Americas. The network in the United States is not only growing through acquisitions, most recently in Scottsdale, Arizona, where construction of an FBO and hangar will soon begin, but is also expanding, building and reno- vating current design standards from coast to coast. Seven major projects are underway – or soon will be – at some 12 prime locations in the US and Caribbean. A groundbreaking in Palm Beach, Florida, in May marked construction of a 40,000 square-foot hangar with 10,000 square feet of offi ce space, all adjacent to a new operations centre for sister company Gulfstream. A completely new facility at Van Nuys, CA will also soon begin operation. The hangar has 42,000 square feet plus 10,000 square feet of offi ce space, all adjacent to a new Gulfstream operations centre. Hardy Bütschi, VP regional operations Middle East and GM Dubai, said: “We opened additional FBOs in the Saudi Arabian cities of Riyad, Jeddah and Madinah. We’ve just opened a facility in Yanbu and there’s more to come. We had a big acquisition in the Asia Pacifi c region, taking our worldwide tally to 50 locations that cater to all services the customers need. We also recently opened a new facility in Teterboro, USA, which consists of a hangar, parking facilities and FBO service.” FIXED BASE OPERATOR (FBO) OF THE YEAR JET AVIATION FINALISTS • DC AVIATION AL FUTTAIM • EXECUJET MIDDLE EAST • GAMA AVIATION • JET AVIATION • JETEX • SAUDIA PRIVATE AVIATION (HIGHLY COMMENDED)November 2019 · AVIATION BUSINESS 34 www.aviationbusinessme.com 2019 AVIATION BUSINESS AWARDS ubai International suc- cessfully retained its posi- tion as the world’s busiest airport for international traffi c for the fi fth con- secutive year in 2018, with a massive 89.1 million passengers. The hub is now home to more than 70 international airlines including home- based fl agships Emirates and fl ydubai, together connecting Dubai to 212 cities in 95 countries around the world. Dubai Airports successfully carried out a major refurbishment of DXB’s southern runway from April to May 2019, due to which the airport’s capacity was signifi - cantly reduced. Despite the reduction in capacity over 45 days the airport contin- ued to be the world’s busiest by traffi c vol- ume (Q1 2019). After adding China Eastern fl ights from Qingdao and Aerofl ot from Moscow in the second half of 2018, DXB welcomed Air India fl ights from Kolkata and Indore and GoAir from Kannur in 2019. DXB is preparing to welcome daily fl ights from Mumbai by a new Indian airline. DXB ended 2018 by welcoming the billionth international passenger, 58 years after it came into existence as a small refuelling stop with nothing more than a small terminal and a stretch of compacted sand for a runway. In February of this year, Dubai Airports launched DXB as a brand, vowing to transform the customer experience and take the 90 million annual passengers in a new and exciting direction by creating a destination within a destination. Its goal is to ensure the best airport experience for customers – everything from minimum waiting times and smooth fl ow between kerb and boarding gates, to a wide range of shopping, food and beverage and ser- vice off erings. Technology is proving key in this new approach and is preventing a costly overhaul of infrastructure. Since DXB is also the fi rst glimpse of Dubai that travellers experience, the focus has strongly been on bringing the unique culture and cosmopolitan vibe of the city into the airport, with the aim of impressing arrivals. This is being achieved through initiatives such as #musicDXB and #artDXB, as part of which the airport periodically brings up-and-coming local and international artists to delight and engage with cus- tomers. Anita Mehra, senior vice president communication and reputation, Dubai Airports, picked up the award on the night. She commented: “We have been winning awards every year, but we don’t want to rest on our laurels. We are striv- ing to make the customer experiences of passengers better along with improving the processes.” Meanwhile, Michael Ibbitson, EVP, technology and infrastructure, Dubai Airports, who accepted the honour alongside Mehra, said: “There are a lot of dedicated people working at the air- port working across all our stakeholders, integrating technologies and systems across all of them to produce lasting experiences for passengers travelling through Dubai Airport. [We are in this position] after years of investment. There are a lot of planned investments coming up to keep us at the top whether that be with technology, infrastructure, brand or experience. It’s about keeping that investment and keeping ourselves mov- ing forward.” AIRPORT OF THE YEAR DUBAI INTERNATIONAL FINALISTS • ABU DHABI AIRPORT • DUBAI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT • OMAN AIRPORT35 November 2019 · AVIATION BUSINESS www.aviationbusinessme.com he low-cost airline market has never been so competi- tive. The Middle East region in particular has a wealth of up-and-coming aff ord- able carriers who are all scrambling for their stake of the lucrative market. Coming out on top this year was Sharjah-based Air Arabia. Air Arabia operates from four hubs in the UAE, Morocco and Egypt, serving over 170 destinations across the globe. Over 14 new routes were added in 2019 and the carrier registered a 47% increase in net profi ts and 20% rise in turnover in the fi rst half of the year. Seat factor in the fi rst half 2019 stood at 84%, which was one of the highest in the industry. During the fi rst half of 2019, Air Arabia launched its new complimentary in- fl ight entertainment system, ‘SkyTime’, that allows passengers to live stream digital content on smartphones, tablets or laptops while travelling with the carrier. The airline maintained its re- cord as being one of the world’s lowest operational cost carrier as it continued with its ambitious expansion strategy. In terms of its fl eet and network, Air Arabia introduced the A321neo LR in 2019 and now has three in service with three more expected before the end of the year. The business launched successful operations to eight-hour range destina- tions, such as Kula Lumpur, Tunis and Vienna. This move follows Air Arabia’s strategy to cater to longer haul while maintaining low cost operations and aff ordable pricing for customers. It cur- rently operates a fl eet of A320 and A321s, serving over 170 routes. One of the key challenges Air Arabia overcame this year was providing a free-of-charge entertainment system to customers while ensuring the cost impact on the bottom-line was marginal. Through the optimum use of technology and innovation in design and delivery, Air Arabia’s ‘SkyTime’ was implemented successfully and with minimum cost. The carrier has fi tted the fl eet with streaming servers that live stream digi- tal content directly to handheld devices. Today, millions of customers are benefi t- ing from this service. On winning the award, Ismail A.A. Mohamed, director fl eet acquisition and technical services at Air Arabia, said: “We are always trying to keep our promises and maintain our on-time performance. We are also particular about the quality we off er our custom- ers and the consistency with which we maintain. We want to ensure that our cabin always remains a comfortable place for passengers to be in. We have also introduced a new entertainment system on our fl eet which has given the customers more entertainment options on-fl ight. Keeping that in mind, operat- ing in the region that we are in, along with the challenges we are facing with our competitors, it’s important for us to maintain that standard while being at an aff ordable level for our passengers to enjoy.” Air Arabia has enjoyed a profi table year with share prices increasing daily at some points over the last 12 months. It recently unveiled the launch of a new low-cost carrier brand alongside Etihad, which could have a huge impact on the regional LCC market. The airline could be the ME carrier to watch in 2020. LOW-COST AIRLINE OF THE YEAR AIR ARABIA FINALISTS • AIR ARABIA • FLYDUBAI • JAZEERA AIRWAYSNovember 2019 · AVIATION BUSINESS 36 www.aviationbusinessme.com 2019 AVIATION BUSINESS AWARDS s Br it ish A i r ways marked its centenary year, the airline looked to the future with the arrival of its fi rst of 18 A350-1000s, complete with the airline’s new Club Suite. The newly-branded Club Suite off ers direct- aisle access, a suite door for greater pri- vacy and luxurious fl at-bed seats in a 1-2-1 confi guration. Boasting 40% more stor- age, including a vanity unit and mirror, WiFi, 18.5 inch in-fl ight entertainment screens, high defi nition gate-to-gate programming, and USB power; every aspect of British Airways’ Club Suite has been designed for today’s customer. The Club Suite has been fi tted onto Airbus A350 fl ights between Dubai and London. British Airways is investing £6.5bn over the next fi ve years in new aircraft, new cabins, new lounges, new food and new technology. It is also delivering changes to its First, World Traveller Plus and World Traveller cabins, delivering new restaurant-style catering from Do&Co. New routes launched this year include Osaka, Pittsburgh and Charleston. The airline also recently placed an order for 18 Boeing 777-9 aircraft. Over the next fi ve years British Airways will take delivery of 72 new aircraft, including four new types: The Airbus A350-1000, Boeing 787-10 for long-haul, as well as A320 and A321neo aircraft for short-haul. By 2020 British Airways will have received 100 new aircraft in less than a decade. The company says its focus is on giving customers more choice and conveni- ent travel options. British Airways has prioritised investment in its customer experience and its now reaping the re- wards. Anjulika Dutton, commercial manager UAE, for British Airways, said: “We’re ecstatic. We’re so excited to win such an accolade. It’s been such a great year because it’s our centenary year. For me it’s even more special because of the two A350s to join our fl eet, we’ve been incredibly lucky for Dubai to have one of them. The great thing about the 350 is our new business class seating. We were the pioneers for the fi rst fl at-bed and now we have this new product and we’re getting great customer feedback.” AIRLINE OF THE YEAR BRITISH AIRWAYS FINALISTS • AIR ARABIA • BRITISH AIRWAYS • JAZEERA AIRWAYS37 November 2019 · AVIATION BUSINESS www.aviationbusinessme.com hen Abdul Khaliq Sae e d t o o k charge of Etihad Engineering, he immediately em- powered its team from more than 60 nations to aim high and drive for improved profi tability. He is credited with making every person in the company feel a sense of belonging and see the company’s success as their own success. This approach has led to an all-time-high in productivity while maintaining the same human resources. Saeed has built direct channels of communicating with all staff regularly and insists on taking in their feedback and ideas. Having turned the company around since taking the reins, Saeed achieved the highest number of profi t- able manhours in the 30-year history of the company in 2018. A key success for Saeed has been achieving high productivity and in- creased output and deliveries using few- er resources and less manpower. During his tenure, Etihad Engineering has raised on-time operational performance levels by more than 30% to an all-time high. They now sit above 95% on average. The fi rm delivered more than 260 air- craft inputs between August 2018 and August 2019 worldwide. Under Saeed, the business also fi lled up the traditionally slow months with carefully staggered inputs, leveraging international seasonal peaks to fi ll hangars and sustain high operational output throughout the year. Saeed has helped to put Etihad’s MRO capabilities on the map with the world’s fi rst 12-year Airbus A380 maintenance check. Receiving his award on the evening, Saeed said: “It feels great. I believe this is a testimony to the excellent team that I have supporting me and who have made me win this award. [Our proudest achievement] is just the commitment from the team and the willingness to go the extra mile to deliver. That has been superb and the best thing I have noticed from the team. “I hope my team would look at me as a colleague, as a friend they can depend on and work with closely so that we can take this company higher still. For us, we are focusing on growing our business and of course this is something we aim to achieve by 2020. We already have a plan for what we’re going to do, we’ve already established a footprint outside of Abu Dhabi, which is something we look forward to growing and taking to further heights.” MRO is a challenging sector for all involved currently, but Saeed believes his company’s approach helps it to over- come the hurdles: “I believe being part of Etihad Airways we have the Etihad mentality, which helps us to understand the customer’s needs, deliver on that and remove their pain. As an MRO, we have to be focused to ensure that when a customer comes to us then we do not fail them.” AVIATION EXECUTIVE OF THE YEAR ABDUL KHALIQ SAEED, CEO, ETIHAD ENGINEERING FINALISTS • ABDUL KHALIQ SAEED, CEO, ETIHAD ENGINEERING • ADEL MARDINI, FOUNDER & CEO, JETEX • ADIL RASHID, TRAINING MANAGER AND INSTRUCTOR, VISION CONCEPT AVIATION INSTITUTE (HIGHLY COMMENDED) • MAJED MOHAMED AL MARZOUQI, VP SAFETY, SECURITY AND QUALITY, ETIHAD AIRWAYS • MANSOOR JANAHI, CEO, SANAD AEROTECHNovember 2019 · AVIATION BUSINESS 38 www.aviationbusinessme.com AWARDS GALLERY RED CARPET GLITZ AND GLAMOUR: AVB AWARDS 2019 THANK YOU TO EVENT SPONSORS39 November 2019 · AVIATION BUSINESS www.aviationbusinessme.com AWARDS GALLERYNext >