MEBAA
CONVENTION NEWS
DAY 2
DECEMBER 7, 2022
AINONLINE.COM
DAVID McINTOSH
Dubai Civil Aviation Authority president, Dubai Airports chairman, and Emirates Airline chairman and CEO Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum leads the royal tour on the opening day of MEBAA 2022.
Gulf region buys into advanced air mobility by Charles Alcock Ambitious, future-obsessed Dubai is just the sort of place you might expect to be an early adopter of so-called advanced air mobility (AAM), including new hybrid- and all-electric eVTOL and eSTOL aircraft used for air taxi services, cargo deliveries, emergency medical support, and other public-service applications. After some early flight demonstrations a few years ago by eVTOL pioneers Volocopter and EHang, the trail appeared to
go cold, until June when helicopter and business jet operator Falcon Aviation announced plans to launch eVTOL air-taxi services from the luxury resort Atlantis the Palm in 2026. Under a partnership with Eve Urban Air Mobility, the operator signed a letter of intent to buy 35 of the manufacturer’s planned four-passenger eVTOL aircraft. Falcon believes its track record as a launch operator for several new helicopter types makes it well qualified continues on page 29
COMPLETIONS VIP Market Growing Citadel Completions is expanding to meet demand for VIP airliner refurbishments | 18
FORECAST Global Outlook Honeywell’s annual forecast anticipates 8,500 new jet deliveries in the next decade | 20
MIDDLE EAST Useful Tools Dassault sees its products as tools that can help Middle East businesses grow | 26
ENERGY A Surging World World Fuel Services saw a rapid recovery in the Middle East after the pandemic | 30