Gama Aviation looks to continue growth at Sharjah International Airport

Sunday 7th December 2014

Gama Aviation FZE plans to widen its presence at Sharjah International Airport from the New Year with heightened engineering capability and a commitment to build a new hangar to serve the increasing range of based and visiting aircraft at its new Sharjah FBO.

Gama Aviation took over the responsibility for all business aviation handling at Sharjah International Airport in early 2012 in a partnership with Sharjah Airport Authority, but the company has been present in Sharjah as a charter operator since 2006.

The FBO facility, which is the region's newest full service private aviation hub serving Sharjah, Dubai and the Northern Emirates, was formally inaugurated by H.E. Sheikh Abdullah Bin Mohammed Al Thani on July 1st 2014.  It represents the latest stage of development by Gama Aviation and its investors including Crescent Enterprises and Growthgate Capital.

Now, a couple of months after the opening,  several aircraft owners and operators have made Sharjah Airport their principal base of operations, encouraged by the expert handling services, competitive parking and hangar fees and the attractive environment Gama has created at its smart new FBO.  These factors, when combined with the absence of slot restrictions, ample parking space and ease of access, have helped to establish Sharjah as a popular flight destination as well as a tech stop location.  Features of the facilities include a VIP lounge for passengers offering luxury British brands, plus a dedicated relaxation area and showers for crew.

"We already have UAE GCAA and European EASA line maintenance approvals enabling our engineers to support aircraft,  including  King Airs, Challengers, Globals,  Legacies, Gulfstreams and BBJ's.   As we move into Phase Two of our development strategy next year, we will construct  a new mixed-use hangar for maintenance and aircraft storage and want to broaden the engineering coverage with  additional types and certifications to ensure that we can serve as wide a variety of customers as we possibly can," said Richard Lineveldt, General Manager.

As Dubai International Airport gets increasingly busy with commercial services, supporting more and more wide-bodied jets, Gama Aviation's proposition to the ME business aviation community for competitively priced hangarage to owners & operators is something the company will be focusing on at the forthcoming biennial Middle East Business Aviation Exhibition (MEBA) next week.  Booth No 470.  Gama Aviation already has access to four hangars at Sharjah, available for short and long term parking, further complemented by dedicated ramp handling and fuel, provided by Air BP.

Gama Aviation's managed fleet in the region now up to eight aircraft.

Gama Aviation is now operating eight business jets in the Middle East region, following the arrival of a second Embraer Legacy 600 and a Challenger 605 this year, both residing at Sharjah. The Legacy especially is proving very popular for regional travel in the Gulf, flights to Europe and Asia, along with holiday trips down to the Maldives and Seychelles," said Richard.  "Customers like the comfort of the cabin as well as its generous luggage allowance, which makes it popular for regional and cross-continental travel - not just for large families, but corporates too."

About Gama Aviation:

Gama Aviation is a global business aviation services organization, founded in 1983 in the United Kingdom by Marwan Khalek and Stephen Wright. Gama Aviation currently employs over 500 people and operates over 80 business aircraft around the globe at 25 operating bases across four continents.

Gama Aviation's global headquarters are located at Farnborough Airport in the UK, with its American subsidiary, Gama Charters Inc.'s headquarters in Stratford, Connecticut, its Middle East and North Africa headquarters in Sharjah and its Asian headquarters in Hong Kong. Its companies and affiliates hold EU-OPS, FAA and UAE GCAA Charter Certificates, EASA, FAA and GCAA Part 145 Maintenance Approvals, EASA Part 21 Design and Manufacture Approvals and collectively offer business aircraft management, charter, maintenance and design, travel, valeting, FBO Executive Handling and aviation software services.

The group remains majority owned by its founders; in 2007 the group received an equity investment from Growth Gate Capital Corporation, Crescent Enterprises and a small number of other strategic partners.