Twelve months after establishing its base at London Biggin Hill airport, Doha-based Rizon Jet is preparing for a busy summer season with the onset of the 2012 London Olympics and an upcoming aircraft placement in Saudi Arabia.
Chief executive Hassan al-Mousawi says Rizon Jet is now handling "between 60 and 90 movements" per month at its Biggin Hill FBO, which opened just two days before the 2011 EBACE.
"This year, we have a lot more to tell our customers, and potential customers," he tells Flightglobal. "Our MRO has made huge progress. We have EASA Part 145 approval and have completed some maintenance inputs on a wide range of aircraft including the Global Express, Challenger 604/605 and the Hawker Jet series. We also recently added the LearJet 45 to our type approvals."
Landing rights in London will be in short supply during the Olympics, with the capital's airports vying for limited airspace between the peak periods of 25-29 July and 10-14 August. Biggin Hill alone had booked 360 slots by the end of April.
However, Rizon Jet has been steadily accruing slots and is confident of meeting the short-term spike in demand.
"In this type of business you don't have a lot of advance bookings," Al-Mousawi says. "But we have started to see some [bookings] because of the fact that people are anticipating slot restrictions in the airports around London. That's an indication for us that Biggin Hill is going to be quite busy and we are hopeful that we will be able to provide the required service."
Rizon Jet is also preparing to place a Bombardier 605 in the Saudi Arabian capital Riyadh, marking the first aircraft placement outside Qatar. "The Saudi market is very active and it is important for us to have a presence there," Al-Mousawi notes.
Source: Flight Daily News
