Empire Aviation Group, which manages a large fleet of business jets in the Middle East, the U.S., Europe, Africa, and the Far East, has seen its business more than double since the end of the Covid pandemic, and its fleet continues to expand.
Managing director Paras Dhamecha called 2023 a fantastic year for the company in terms of aircraft sales transactions as well as charter bookings and revenue.
“There is strong international interest across all our services—aircraft management and new clients, aircraft sales, charter, and CAMO—from various sources, including wealthy individuals and families, corporates, and government,” he told AIN. “We are consistently registering high double-digit growth, year on year. The prospects for 2024 look equally positive across all service lines.”
He said Empire’s aircraft management division continues to expand and added a BBJ and an Embraer Legacy 600 to its UAE registry. A Challenger 604 joined its Nigeria fleet.
“We will take another aircraft under management, late this year or early 2024,” he said. “Our charter fleet consists of the BBJ, Global 7500, three Global 6000s, one G650, two Legacy 650s, and one Legacy 600. Charter demand continues to be strong and we are seeing more interest in longer leasing periods.”
Empire plans to open a multipurpose commercial business aviation facility at a prime location directly opposite the VIP terminal at Dubai World Central in 2024.
“The pandemic and its aftermath have been very positive for our business and we have grown revenues by more than 100 percent since the end of the pandemic,” said Dhamecha. “Interest in aircraft sales and acquisitions continues to be strong and charter demand is still growing. In terms of aircraft management, we have added two new management clients, with continued interest from a variety of parties.”
Empire holds air operator certificates in the UAE and San Marino. Dhamecha said the evolution of the Middle East market has driven a significant surge in business in recent years.
“Many people have had their first taste of private flying and continue to use private aircraft as charter clients or owners,” he said. “We remain highly optimistic about the future of our industry, as we see private aviation coming of age.”