Jet Aviation has received an AOC from the Maltese Civil Aviation Directorate, which joins the company's other European AOCs from Switzerland and Germany. A Boeing BBJ 737-700 is already operating under the new AOC, with a Legacy 600 to follow in the coming weeks.

Managed by Jet Aviation and available for charter services, the BBJ1 accommodates 19 passengers. It has a range of 5,000 nm, making it ideal for trips to destinations such as Bahamas, Beijing, Mauritius or New York.

“Our flight operation in Malta is a terrific complement to our Swiss and German operations,” says senior VP and general manager Jürg Reuthinger. “This additional AOC in the European Union offers aircraft owners and operators more flexibility in their choice of registrations and operation. Charter customers greatly appreciate a wide range of aircraft to meet their varying jet transportation needs. The BBJ that is available for charter is an excellent choice for worldwide business and leisure travel.”

Jet Aviation has also added six new aircraft for management in the Middle East this year. The company, which is celebrating 50 years in business, currently manages 22 aircraft in the Gulf region. The latest aircraft are a Global, two Falcons, two G650s and a Learjet, based in north Africa, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

“We are pleased to see that aircraft owners and operators in the region value our global reach, our cost-efficient solutions and our experience,” says Reuthinger. “In all aspects of our operations and across the full spectrum of our capabilities, we focus on safety and premium service to ensure we remain our customers' partner of choice.”

The total Middle East fleet includes four BBJs, three Bombardier aircraft, four Falcons and 11 Gulfstreams.

EBAN also spoke to PR and communications manager Mary-Lou Murphy about the major milestones that the company has achieved in the 50 years since its foundation. Starting out as a maintenance company, it began offering ground handling in 1969 and then charter three years later. In 1976 it went international by opening a facility in Dusseldorf, and after the launch of its completions business the following year made its way to the Middle East in 1979. More recently the company was sold to Permira in 2006 and then to current owner General Dynamics in 2008.

Several staff have become part of the furniture, including Elie Zelouf, who started working for Jet Aviation in 1968 as a maintenance inspector. Constance Sutter joined Jet Aviation as an avionics engineer in 1973 and is Basel's longest standing employee still on the payroll.

Murphy is looking to the future, however: “Earlier this year, we introduced our One Jet transfor-mation, investing in our systems, processes, service standards and people, in recognition of the fact that we need to stay relevant for the future as we continue to grow. We will continue to implement this in 2018 and beyond, and we look forward to soon opening our third hangar in Singapore. Last month we broke ground on our wide-body hangar in Basel, which will be completed by the end of next year.” (See page 14).