Contributor - Middle East

Peter Shaw-Smith

Bahrain-based aircraft management and private-jet charter concern, IJM MENA, a joint venture of Austria’s International Jet Management and Bahrain’s MENA Aerospace, celebrated its first anniversary earlier this year. 
IJM was founded in 2003 and has more than 100 employees at its Vienna base, 25 aircraft under management and additional offices in Central Europe, Hong Kong and Manila in the Far East. Its fleet consists of Bombardier Learjet/Challenger/Global Express aircraft, along with aircraft such as the Cessna Citation, Dassault Falcon and Gulfstream V. 
“IJM MENA successfully offers the aircraft management and charter expertise of IJM combined with the local infrastructure, contacts and knowledge of MENA to aircraft owners based within the GCC,” said Felix Feller, chairman of the IJM MENA board and founder and CEO of International Jet Management.
 “We saw a lot of demand for our combined services from the beginning of our partnership onwards and we are very happy that we could welcome new aircraft owners in the first year of the partnership.”
 IJM MENA manages three aircraft at Bahrain international Airport, of which two, both registered commercially, are available for charter, a Legacy 600 and a Challenger 604. The company is based at the private-jet hangar complex of MENA Aerospace at the airport and holds an AOC issued by the Bahrain CAA.
 IJM MENA said it coordinates private-jet charter flights with AC Aviation Charter GmbH.
 “Within the first 12 months of our partnership we [welcomed] two new aircraft to our fleet and were able to significantly increase charter turnover,” said Bernhard Wipfler, general manager, IJM MENA.
 Established in 2004, MENA Aerospace Enterprises WLL is the holding company and administrative head for several local Bahraini companies operating, managing, chartering and maintaining aircraft, and has developed a private aviation complex at Bahrain’s Manama Airport.

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