Rizon Jet is setting up aircraft maintenance facilities in a number of locations in the Gulf region and will offer a full aircraft management and maintenance service to complement its core fleet. "We see aircraft maintenance as a growth market in the Gulf as there are insufficient existing facilities," says ceo William Curtis. "Many Gulf operators take their aircraft to Europe for maintenance inputs."

This will complement its new Biggin Hill development which will feature a 13,000 sq. m. maintenance hangar and FBO facility. "We expect the facility to be fully operational by September 2009 and will begin recruiting and training staff late this year" says Curtis. "We aim to offer full EASA 145 maintenance facilities along with aircraft management packages and charter services pursuant to a U.K. AOC. We will also offer a 'high end' FBO service. We see the need for a service which will meet the expectations of clients from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf region who expect associated services such as helicopter links, prestige car rental and limousine services of the highest order. We aim to provide all these services in house. We expect to develop a London client base quickly as many mainstream charter brokers are already flying their clients with us in the Gulf region and the UK business jet fleet is continuing to expand."

Rizon also intends to add an aircraft catering facility. "Halal compliant catering will be offered as standard," he says. The company began operations in April 2007 and says it has increased sales to in excess of $10 million annually. Curtis says: "Sales are growing month on month and we expect them to top $50 million in 2009."

The expansion follows new ownership. In December 2007 the company was wholly acquired by Qatari national, Ghanim Bin Saad Al Saad who is also chairman of the Barwa International property development firm and of Qatari DIYAR, the property investment arm of the Qatari Investment Group.

Curtis says: "We try for new aircraft wherever possible. However all the desirable models are back-ordered so we have to supplement in the short term with used aircraft and there is not much that represents good value right now. A five-year-old Challenger 604 will often sell for more than its new cost - not a good investment for us in the long run. It is, we believe, preferable to pay a premium for a new aircraft given that one normally carries the substantial cost of the deposit schedule anyway and in purchasing a new aircraft one at least has the benefit of the warranties and the first five years of subsidised support programmes plus the customer appeal of a new airframe and the latest interior amenities."

Rizon Jet has two Premier 1As and a Hawker 900XP already in service. A second Hawker 900XP is scheduled for delivery in the second quarter of 2009. Two Challenger 605s are expected in the first and last quarter of 2009 and a G-500 follows in the last quarter of 2010. "We are acquiring two further Challenger 604/5s late this year." says Curtis, "and we are about to order or acquire further aircraft for the U.K. although we are still evaluating our options in this regard. Rizon Jet also offers broking services to our clients where our own fleet is unavailable or unsuitable for their mission."

Curtis says the start-up Premier 1A, although a surprisingly good aircraft, has a too limited size and payload range for Rizon's remit and will be phased out. "We have chosen Hawker 900XP and Challenger 605 for their reliability. We fly into Africa, India, Asia, China and the former USSR where support is sparse. These newer designs, have the benefit of being good in terms of dispatch reliability and 'get you home performance."