MEBA10: SPA in market for mid-size jets

The company – currently a subsiary of Saudi Arabian Airlines, but soon to become a stand-alone business is in Dubai looking to buy mid-size business jets as it marks its first anniversary of operations.

It is also beginning studies of business aircraft with between 25 and 40 seats, with a view to acquiring between two and four, according to the head of the business, Wajdi Alidrissi.

The Jeddah-based operator is using its debut at MEBA to study potential mid-size aircraft candidates as it seeks to fill a gap in its fleet between its Hawker 400XPs (six) and Dassault Falcon 7Xs (four).

“We will be using MEBA to start looking at potential candidates,” confirmed Alidrissi. “At this stage we are looking at mid-sized aircraft and would expect to sign something next year. We also need between two and four aircraft in the 25-40 passenger category.”

Above: Mission to buy: Wajdi Alidrissi, head of the SPA operation flanked by colleagues Saleh Mohammed Albayoumi and Faisal Abdulaziz Al-Saddik.

Alidrissi said that SPA, had had a very good first year of trading. “It has been excellent and we achieved our goals,” he said. “In our first year, we have already reached around 270 different customers flying with us.”

But, he added, the best is yet to come, with a packed agenda for the coming year, and plans to either own or manage ten per cent of the Saudi business aircraft market, which is expected to grow to 1,200 by 2020.

In the coming year, SPA will be floated off from its parent company to become a stand-alone operation. Alidrissi said he expected SPA to need two additional Hawker 400 XPs in 2011. “There have been times when our capacity has been stretched and so we could see the need for new aircraft.”

By 2020, he sees SPA attaining responsibility – through ownership or management – of some 120 aircraft in the kingdom. The country currently has around 450 business aircraft.

“In business aviation terms, Saudi Arabia is a virgin market,” said Alidrissi. “It is a huge country with 27 airports. We have a very strong economy and there is a lot of economic activity going on, including the building of new cities.

“High quality business aviation has a very important role to play in this,” he said.