Al Bateen Executive Airport, operated and managed by Abu Dhabi Airports Company (ADAC), has entered the ranks of best Fixed Based Operators (FBOs) in the prestigious European Business Air News FBO Survey 2012. The magazine’s aircraft owner readers, voting online and via a printed questionnaire, put Al Bateen’s DhabiJet FBO at number four, making it the highest ranked FBO in the Middle East - one of just two FBOs in the Middle East to make the top twenty and ahead of many bigger long established international brands.
“Abu Dhabi Airports Company is proud that DhabiJet, within its first year of operation, has entered the premier league of FBO operators. This is a ringing endorsement for the commitment the FBO team has made to enhance its services and facilities for flight crew,” said H.E. Khalifa Al Mazrouei, Chairman of ADAC.
Every EBAN reader of qualified aircraft operators has the opportunity to vote for their favorite FBOs from March 2011 to January 2012 and award them points for their facilities, services, staff and value for money. Each reader is provided with a personalized web page. Alternatively, they can cast votes via survey forms included in the magazine from September. The magazine asks for a score out of nine from each of four categories to determine the average.
“Congratulations to Al Bateen Executive and DhabiJet which has gone straight in to our top five best FBOs at No 4,” said EBAN publisher David Wright. "It is especially pleasing to see some of the recently established FBOs being recognized for their quality of service by our readers in this, our 20th year of running this popular survey. Good infrastructure, meeting customers’ needs and providing highly trained and motivated people are the key attributes of our top FBOs.”
The results of the EBAN survey are in line with Al Bateen’s own findings on the level of satisfaction of its customers. A recent in-house survey was conducted whereby visiting Crew and VIP passengers ranked DhabiJet’s services 9.28 / 10 in overall satisfaction.
Al Bateen’s accomplishment follows a record year which saw an 11% increase in overall commercial aviation movements compared with 2010 and more than 50% increase in visiting business aviation traffic, registering 8,775 commercial aircraft movements during 2011. The airport attracted 124 new first time international business aviation customers too, bolstering its reputation as the preferred business aviation destination or stop over in the Middle East.
“The business aviation market is an important element of Abu Dhabi’s air transport strategy and by establishing an airport dedicated to business aviation, ADAC takes an important step forward in regional leadership of this sector and in reinforcing the credentials of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi as the region’s premier venue for private aviation. ADAC is committed to providing the highest level of services of all its airports by constantly developing and enhancing its offerings.” concluded Al Mazrouei.
Al Bateen Executive’s DhabiJet serves all the requirements of its dedicated business aviation clientele under the management and co-ordination of a single, highly trained DhabiJet customer service team. Its range of services include meet and greet, fuel, cabin cleaning, catering and limousine services. A modern two-storey crew lounge, inaugurated in November, is now fully operational.
The new facility combines work areas to carry out crew briefings and flight planning, lounge areas to entertain and relax. The top floor is occupied by Al Bateen’s flight operations department and a briefing room. The ground floor is entirely dedicated to crew, featuring a lounge area with satellite TV, snooze room, work station, meeting room, pantry, shower facility and a prayer room.
