Seawings, which provides Dubai-based aerial sightseeing tours, is planning expansion. "We are looking at the possibilities of adding more aircraft to our fleet in the near future," says chairman Sheikh Saeed Mohammed Hasher Al Maktoum.

The company is registered as Air Charter International (Arabia) Ltd. and its tourist flights are based on three Cessna 208 Caravans offered by Seawings LLC and operated by Jet-Ops FZE. "We chose our current fleet on criteria based on excellent reputation of Cessna products," director Peter Groves says. "There is an attractive ease of maintenance and we have a well qualified maintenance team that looks after all three aircraft."

Another director, David Stockwell, points out that the Caravan has a cabin size that enables it to carry nine passengers and a pilot and its range allows a tour of up to two hours.

Seawings started operations in August 2007 with one aircraft and a team of 14. It now employs more than 35 staff, operates the three Caravans and is planning to acquire more. Sheikh Saeed says: "The Caravans have established a reputation for providing a magical journey across Dubai's dramatic and ever changing coastal skyline. The Caravan provides great views from each seat, exhilarating water take off and landing, a luxury cabin with leather seating and air conditioned comfort. The flight provides an opportunity to capture the unique views of Dubai's most iconic landmarks but Seawings understands business needs and what is required to organise a perfect day for meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions. Therefore, the guests now have a choice of experiencing one or more of the resort facilities before or after the flight." These, he says, include golf, the beach and water sports, a spa and fine dining.

The company recruits pilots based on criteria including minimum flying hours, licence and aircraft flying experience. It does not recruit cabin crew but uses customer representatives to assist clients.

Business is being referred through travel agents, tour operators, hotels and comes from corporations and business bookings. "We have focused our marketing efforts with different promotions targeting each of these avenues and we tailor tours to meet requirements," Stockwell says. Its broker operations, carried out by Air Charter International , provides medevac, cargo and helicopter bookings as well as passenger charter.