Despite five years of official disfavor for the business aviation sector, operators are moving forward in Saudi Arabia.

“It’s just very exciting times in Saudi Arabia because we’re seeing a big push in expansion for general aviation, for private business aviation in the kingdom,” Yosef Hafiz, vice president of commercial sales and marketing at Riyadh-based NasJet, told AIN, in a nod to the role of the country’s General Authority for Civil Aviation (GACA).

“GACA is listening. GACA actually hosted general aviation operators at their headquarters and said, ‘Hey guys, what do you need us to do to make your life easier? What do you need us to improve upon?’ They’re listening. You can see that changes are happening within, and we can feel it. We’re excited about it, and we’re hoping that these changes take place quickly because to meet Vision 2030, you have to have those changes take place. You have to have them engage. So let’s see.”

However, he conceded that pressure on business aircraft operators to keep their heads down after the Ritz Carlton detentions in November 2017 had yet to fully ease. “This is a very fluid market, and it almost feels like there’s a very big push for people to own and purchase aircraft,” he said. “However, what we’re seeing is that people still don’t want to be on the radar screen. They don’t want to be visible. They’re just a little, I don’t want to say fearsome, but more cautious in purchasing a…