Dubai based Western Aviation is in the vanguard of Middle East operators acquiring a Hawker 4000. Ceo A.J. Kamal points out that the Middle East has a big appetite for large cabin jets. "The Hawker 4000 is one of the most advanced and luxurious super mid-size business jets," he says. "The acquisition of this Hawker 4000 in addition to the existing Hawker 900XP will give us additional capacity and flexibility to meet the ever growing demand in the region for very comfortable private jets."

Western Aviation says its client base includes top business executives, royal family members, politicians, celebrities, investors and foreign delegates of government organisations, multi-national companies and investment groups in and around UAE, GCC, Europe, Russia, CIS countries and Asia.

"The Hawker 4000 has a full 6 ft. high stand-up cabin from front to back which can satisfy the demands of business executives or high net worth individuals who prefer flying spacious jets even for short duration flights of an hour or so," says Kamal.

Ihsan Deeb, coo, says that other factors that influenced the order included the FADEC-controlled engines, state-of-the-art Honeywell Primus EPIC avionics, "outstanding" balance of speed, efficiency, comfort, responsiveness and 3,280 n.m. range. "It complements our 900XP, which is one of the best mid-sized business jets in the world. We offer an eight-seater vip configuration with luxurious interior and is equipped with ProLine 21 advanced paperless cockpit," Deeb adds. There is a completely enclosed aft lavatory, fully refurbished galley and total entertainment system.

"Plans," says Deeb, "are in the pipeline to get more aircraft in the coming years. The Hawker 4000 and our existing Challenger 605 are the first of these. Western Aviation plans to develop its capability in line with the demand for services that has been established."

Western Aviation is a niche division of Western Holdings which is a part of Dubai-based business conglomerate ETA STAR Group. "Western Aviation was set up with the vision of becoming a world class aircraft charter enterprise based in the Dubai airport free zone," says Kamal.