Empire Aviation Group, the Dubai-based private aviation company, is set to indulge the uber-rich with a ‘luxury partner’ programme, which will offer private jet travel with unique leisure experiences at some of the exotic tourist locations around the world.
Luxury private yacht cruises and stays at super premium properties are among the combo offers which will be part of Empire Aviation’s new offering.
The company has already teamed up with leading resort groups in Seychelles and Maldives, and is currently in talks with some of the leading international brands in hospitality and leisure travel management for tie-ups for this programme.
“There is a growing demand from affluent leisure travellers for highly personalised private travel services and our new offering is in response to that,” Paras Dhamecha, founder and managing director of Empire Aviation, told Arabian Business.
“We are always looking to innovate and improve our services and operations as part of our market expansion strategy and the luxury partner programme is in line with this,” Dhamecha added.
Soneva Fushi and Hideaway Beach Resort & Spa in Maldives, and Raffles Seychelles are among the hospitality groups which Empire Aviation has already tied up for its ‘jet-resort stays’ combo offering.
Dhamecha said the group was in discussions with more super premium properties and travel management groups for partnerships for the programme.
He, however, declined to name these groups.
The Empire chief executive said post-pandemic, the demand for private jet travel has picked up significantly as ‘safety’ has become the buzzword for the wealthy.
“There is also a growing interest in the long-term leasing of charter aircraft for 2-3 months and we are seeing higher utilisation of our managed aircraft on charter,” he revealed.
Dhamecha said his new initiative for the ‘luxury partner’ programme was also influenced by the Dubai government’s focus on making the emirate the private jet capital of the region.
“The GCC has been a relatively large focus market for private aviation for many years due to the region’s high level of disposable wealth. The UAE and Dubai governments’ new initiatives aimed at attracting investors and companies, especially tech firms from around the world could propel the country now as one of the global hubs for aviation,” the Empire chief executive said.
Empire Aviation, which operates in the UAE under an air operator certificate (AOC) issued by the UAE GCAA (General Civil Aviation Authority), is engaged in providing a bouquet of services associated with private aviation such as aircraft management, flight operations and charter and aircraft sales.
Dhamecha said Empire was looking at expanding its operations by entering new markets and also adding new business verticals.
“We continue to see opportunities across all our business segments and also new markets in the region. We have added new managed aircraft business in Egypt and Indonesia, and we are looking for further expansions,” he said.
Dhamecha said India was one of the focus countries for Empire Aviation.
“In India, more companies are expanding their operations domestically and internationally and we believe we can help owners with professional aircraft management services, through our local partners.
“India is also a significant part of our charter business and there’s a growing interest in aircraft acquisition – we are working on several transactions for aircraft,” Dhamecha said.
Dhamecha said Empire operates aircraft based in locations from Nigeria in the west, all the way to Indonesia in the Far East.
“The UAE is our home base and headquarters, and the MENA region is our largest market with more than 75 percent of our managed fleet of business jets based in the region,” he said.
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