Business aviation up in Middle East

There has been a rise in business aviation in the Middle East this year as firms look to expand their overseas operations in areas like Dubai, new figures have revealed.

The aviation industry is beginning to show the green shoots of recovery, with flights to the Middle East registering a 3% rise in 2012, although the growth was not at as high a rate as in 2011.

Other aviation markets were also up, according to data compiled by JSSI, the world's leading provider of maintenance support and financial services to the business aviation industry.

The quarterly figures track the number of hours that business aircraft have flown by region.

Annual flight hour growth to the Middle East stood at 8% in 2011, but dropped to 3% in 2012, the data showed.

However, JSSI co-president Susan Marr said the drop in growth was not surprising since a large number of economies around the globe were recovering from economic downturn or recession.

"Flight hours are a direct indicator of the overall health of the economy," she added.