Dubai World Central will have a dedicated Executive Jet Centre that will be among the industry’s best, competing with Van Nuys in California, Teterboro in New York, Le Bourget in France and Farnborough in the UK.

The facility is being designed as a one-stop centre for the entire spectrum of business jet operations.
“The Executive Jet Centre will be one of the biggest in the world in terms of the expected traffic anticipated to utilise the facility and the land area allocated for this development,” says Shaikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, chairman, Dubai Aviation Corporation – Dubai World Central.
“This facility will function as a one-stop centre for business jet operations, including leasing and chartering of business jets, ground handling, VIP passenger handling, ground support equipment maintenance, business jet maintenance, aviation fuel, aircraft catering, flight planning, land clearances and special VIP lounges.
“When complete, the centre will lead the region in terms of VIP and executive passenger handling and compete with worldwide business aviation facilities. It will be outstanding from an architectural perspective, taking into account passenger comfort and privacy and, at the same time, ensuring airport security is maintained,” he adds.
Currently being designed with a handling capacity of in excess of 100,000 aircraft movements a year, the blueprint of the Executive Flight Centre is due for completion in 2008. To include a dedicated duty-free, business centre, fitness room, food outlets and crew rest areas, the Executive Flight Centre will also feature a specific area for executive helicopter and heli-taxi operations.
“One of the advantages of the Executive Flight Centre is that it is directly connected to a landside secured heliport, which will enable VIP passengers to fly their helicopters from the centre to their final destination, such as the Burj Al Arab and The World islands,” says Abdulla Ahmed Al Qurashi, chief executive officer, Dubai World Central Aviation City. “This synergy between the executive jet area and the heliport is a key factor for VIPs.”
The Executive Flight Centre will also boast specific areas for maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) and aircraft hangars.
“The masterplan for the MRO area is flexible,” says Al Qurashi. “A customer might lease a plot for one hangar or a series of plots attached together to accommodate a large MRO centre for multiple aircraft. We will also have facilities to accommodate different aircraft sizes from single-engined Cessnas up to the Airbus A380.”
According to Al Qurashi, industry interest in the new flight centre is already running high. “We have received enormous interest on three different fronts – light aviation, including a flying academy, corporate and business aviation both for aircraft and helicopter operations and for MRO. Discussions are ongoing with a number of parties and resulting initiatives will be announced in due course,” he adds.