Luxury flight firm soars on boom

SHANGHAI: Royal Jet, the UAE-headquartered luxury flight services company, is looking to increase its presence in China, where demand for aircraft charter services is growing at an estimated 30 percent annually.

The company, especially strong in long-distance flights with a fleet that includes the world's largest commercial offering of five Boeing Business Jets (BBJ), plans to grow its flight hours in China to 15-20 percent of its total in a few years from the current 5 percent, or 500 flight hours a year.

"The economic boom in China is playing a vital role in many markets," said Bilal Yousuf, the company's vice-president of operations. "We see a lot of business opportunities from Chinese companies and delegations."