MEBAA, the Middle East and North Africa Business Aviation Association, has established a Planning and Operation Committee (POC) in the Middle East and north Africa. The first POC, under the auspices of its UAE chapter, took place on 10 February in Dubai, and others should follow in neighbouring countries across the region.

The objective of the POC is to create a platform for members to discuss issues and challenges facing the current business aviation market and to provide detailed attention to various areas of operations. Key decision makers attended from Airbus Corporate Jets, Arab Wings, Boeing Business Jets, Bombardier Business Aircraft, Collins Aerospace, ExecuJet Middle East, Falcon Aviation Services, Gama Aviation Middle East, Gate Gourmet Catering Arabia, Honeywell Aerospace, Jet Support Services, Jet Aviation, Jeppesen, Jetex, Lufthansa Technik, Royal Jet, Tarsus F&E Middle East and UAS International Trip Support. Representatives from the authorities will be invited to take part when appropriate.

Issues raised during the meeting covered access to statistics, regulations, foreign aircraft registered operation in UAE and security access. MEBAA founding and executive chairman Ali Alnaqbi stressed the importance of working together as one body in order to be heard and considered by local authorities: “We need to come together, unite our voice and act as one community to make positive change in which we can shape the future of our industry.”

Committees have been set up to consider each segment of the industry separately: AOCs; OEMs; FBOs; MROs; services; and the MEBAA Show Advisory Board. Each member company related to specific functions will nominate a representative to participate.