Rizon Jet to Open New MRO/FBO Facilities @ London Biggin Hill Airport

Rizon Jet, the Middle East and UK-based business aviation group, is expecting completion of its new 130,000 sqm hangar and FBO/VIP Terminal facility at London Biggin Hill Airport in July 2010.

 Rizon Jet’s new two-level FBO / VIP Terminal is being designed to cater for an international clientele mainly from Europe and the Middle East. The ground floor level will feature five open seating areas and the mezzanine floor will offer enclosed lounge areas with two private lounges for clients as well as a crew lounge with work stations and a dedicated rest area. Separate prayer rooms for men and women are also being built.

With a current workforce of 20 employees in Biggin Hill, Rizon Jet will eventually employ a 100-strong team in the UK. The majority of the workforce will be on the engineering side while Rizon Jet also is in talks with some OEMs to offer maintenance support on several aircraft types and hard on the heels of receiving its EASA/QCAA approval last year.

“Everything is coming together very well. We have had a dedicated team to this project and are on course for a formal opening later this summer,” said Patrick Enz, Rizon Jet CEO.

“Our opening at Biggin Hill fulfils Rizon Jet’s ambition to establish a base in Europe where we will specialise in aircraft maintenance and FBO / VIP Terminal ground handling activities. The business aviation industry has gone through an immensely tough year but Europe and the Middle East are pulling out of the recession and our timing is good,” he said. “We have had considerable enquiries. Hangar space in the south of England is in strong demand and we are very much looking forward to growing our third party maintenance capabilities.”

Rizon Jet moved from Bahrain to new premises in Doha, State of Qatar in 2009 followed by the appointment of a new Chief Executive, Patrick Enz who joined in September 2009 from Jet Aviation where he was VP Business Development, based in Zurich. Patrick has established a strong international team of business aviation professionals to help him run the business including Jackie Nikolajsen, General Manager at the Biggin Hill facility, former technical director of ExecuJet Europe A/S (Denmark) in Copenhagen and Faisal Alam, General Manager at the Doha facility. Faisal was former Chief Operating Officer at Bahrain-based Delmun Aviation Services.

It is the intention that Rizon Jet will collaborate with newly established Oryx Jet which has been created to provide aircraft management and aircraft charter, also operating out of London Biggin Hill. Oryx is talking with a number of individuals about managing their aircraft, which could see more business type jets being added to their charter fleet. They may also take on the management of Rizon’s Beechcraft Premier 1 which has just recently moved to the UK.

Doha Expansion

Rizon Jet is also advancing with a similar sized facility at its newly established headquarters at Doha International Airport, Qatar, which is on course for completion in July this year. Accessible via its own apron and with an airport parking area of approx 5,810 m², the facility will have a hangar large enough to accommodate four Global XRS or nine Challenger 604/605 aircraft. It will host in-house workshops and technical offices covering 1,579 m².

The 737 sqm adjacent VIP terminal will feature four private lounges (fully enclosed), an open lounge area with a water feature, indoor garden, duty free area as well as a male and female prayer rooms.

In the Middle East, Rizon Jet is operating a charter fleet which includes two Hawker 900XPs and two Challenger 605s. These aircraft are all operating on the Qatari Air Operating Permit. Complementing its existing U.A.E (Sharjah) AOC, Rizon Jet’s Qatar AOP was granted in May last year in recognition of its high standard of flight operations and the professionalism it is demonstrating in building a full service business aviation company in Doha.

Rizon Jet and Oryx Jet will be co-exhibiting at the forthcoming premier European business aviation show EBACE (4-6 May) Stand No 1185.

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