Royal Jet, the Abu Dhabi-headquartered international luxury executive flight services company, has entered into an agreement with Arab Wings of Jordan to jointly manage a new Challenger 605.

Arab Wings, which started operations in 1975 as a Royal Jordanian executive jet subsidiary, is owned by the Royal Jordanian Air Academy.

At the Middle East Business Aviation show at Dubai Airport, Ahmad Abu Ghazaleh, general manager and CEO of Arab Wings signed the agreement with Shane O’Hare, president and CEO of Royal Jet in what is possibly the very first partnership of its kind.

The jointly managed aircraft will join Royal Jet in February 2009 and enhance the super mid-size element of its fleet. At a cruise speed of Mach 0.80, the Challenger 605 can swiftly link city pairs such as Abu Dhabi to London in under eight hours, Riyadh to Geneva in just over six hours, and Jeddah to Berlin in just under six hours. Its maximum range is 7460 km (4027 nm).

The new deal could signal the start of further cooperation in the future between the two companies, which share a number of common synergies. Both are established private jet operators that are well respected by their industry peers.

Shane O’Hare said he was delighted that two prominent names in the industry should be working together in this way. “The opportunity to work with Arab Wings on this venture once again proves that we will always develop a bespoke service to our clients which best serves their particular needs.'

'We are like minded in our approach to providing the very best in aircraft management and ensuring the owners of the aircraft are looked after in the best way possible.'

“Aircraft management is one of the cornerstones of our strategic five year plan both in developing our own fleet, and managing other aircraft. This joint venture provides us with the opportunity to extend our reach further across the Middle East from our base in Abu Dhabi,” stated Ramzi Zaroubi, VP finance and business development, who led the Royal Jet team.

“Royal Jet are widely recognised for their expertise and attention to detail. We have great confidence in their abilities and look forward to a profitable and close relationship with them into the future,' said Ahmad Abu Ghazaleh.

'At the same time, the benefits to the owner of this aircraft are enormous as two companies in different geographical areas will be marketing its chartering. In this case, two managing companies really are better than one,” he added.-TradeArabia News Service