African Business Aviation Association selects Hadid International Services as penultimate member.

Tuesday 11th December 2012

The African Business Aviation Association (AfBAA) has announced ahead of this year's Middle Eastern Business Aviation convention (MEBA 2012,) that Hadid International Services has been selected as the penultimate Founding Member of the recently launched Association.

This brings the number of Founding Members who have demonstrated fully funded commitment to the organisation to 19 in total. AfBAA is now working to establish who will be invited to join as the Final Founding member and anticipates the concluding selection, and closure of this significant category, by the end of the year.

Speaking about Hadid's acceptance of the Founding Member status, Tarek Ragheb, AfBAA Chairman commented, "We are delighted that Hadid has accepted our invitation to become a Founding Member. It is joining an exceptional line up of inaugural members and brings valuable experience and breadth of knowledge to the table." The UAE-based Hadid International Services specialises in providing flight support services for executive jets and was invited to join due to its strong reputation for delivering exceptional services, the fact it has an existing presence in Africa and its ongoing commitment to developing business aviation in the region.

Hadid's Director of Business Development, Dr Adnan Branbo added, "We see tremendous growth and opportunities in Africa and recognise the need for a professional, thoughtfully structured and well-funded association that can support the development of the business aviation sector on the continent. Having the opportunity to be a Founding Member and contribute to shaping the future of economic development in Africa is a very exciting prospect for us."

The selection of Hadid International Services follows hard on the heels of AfBAA's NBAA announcement that it has launched three new membership categories which have been tailored to encourage membership applications from the full spectrum of aviation business.

Any commercial enterprise that owns or operates a General Aviation aircraft in Africa can join with "Operator Membership"; whilst the "Supplier Membership" is designed for those that provide goods and services to the industry. Both categories include voting rights at the Association's annual general meeting. For those that do not fulfill either of the previous criteria the Affiliate Membership enables any entity with an abiding interest in Business Aviation within the region to join, but does not include voting rights.

Like other inaugural members Hadid International Services will retain membership until 2015 and will adhere to the guiding principles, which focus on advocacy, safety, security, integrity, service and training. Launch Members will also have a strong voice within the association and will be responsible for contributing to the future of the Association's activity.