First officer Gabriel Cordova, director of security government relations for GI Aviation Yousif Al Hammadi, captain and flight ops director Jukka Vito and GI Aviation general manager Marios Belidis at the launch of their private charter service

GI Aviation opens for UAE business

GI Aviation has been awarded its GCAA AOC for operations from its Al Bateen Executive airport base in Abu Dhabi. The company also introduced its first Pilatus PC-12NG, an aircraft that MEBAA chairman Ali Alnaqbi suggests should make commercial sense on short flight routes in the Gulf region, where larger jets typically dominate.

“GI Aviation is the first com- pany to operate the PC-12NG commercially in the region and is pioneering an all-new business model for the Gulf,” says general manager Marios Belidis. “Our goal is to deliver a competitively priced, reliable private charter service that will encourage new clients into this sector and stimulate the market. We expect demand will initially focus on key city pairs in the region where we will serve Doha, Kuwait, Bahrain, KSA and Sir Bani Yas from Abu Dhabi and Dubai.