Ali Alnaqbi, Founding and Executive Chairman of the Middle East and North Africa Business Aviation Association (MEBAA), yesterday led an exclusive networking event looking at the key challenges and opportunities for business aviation at the MEBAA Conference Tunisia. He was joined by Yamina Jlaiel, Deputy Director Air Transport Direction, General Directorate of Civil Aviation, Ministry of Transport and representatives of the key local industry.
“The Middle East and North Africa business aviation industry is growing across the region,” Alnaqbi says, “and the purpose of the MEBAA Conferences and networking events is to provide more focus on individual countries both in detail and in the context of the region, by bringing together key leaders to share knowledge.”
Tunisia boasts nine international airports covering the entire country, five of which are considered major business aviation airports, giving a wide range of convenient location options for both domestic and international flights. In addition, government support is strong for the entire aerospace industry. This includes the creation of a 200 hectare aerospace cluster in the southern suburbs of Tunis and according to GITAS, there were a dozen aeronautical companies in 2004 and this has now grown to around 80.
“We are pleased that MEBAA sees the importance of the business aviation industry within Tunisia,” says Jlaiel. “The level of industry players here today, networking and sharing knowledge and insight, has demonstrated that there are valuable tangible opportunities in the country. I look forward to working more closely with MEBAA to continue to bring these leaders together to drive the industry into the future.”
Among the companies represented at the event were Royal Wings Aviation Services, Bombardier, Flight Contact Services and IJet Global, in addition to the International Civil Aviation Organization ICAO and Établissement National de la Navigation Aérienne (ENNA).
“We have had a fantastic response from the industry in Tunisia,” Alnaqbi continued. “It reinforces our belief that the market here has a need for a platform for collaboration, and look forward to bringing more MEBAA events here in the future.”
