The Middle East is currently abuzz with executive aviation projects. However, more than a decade ago some operators had already spotted the region’s potential and decided to act upon it.
DC Aviation Al-Futtaim VIP Terminal (DCAF), a joint venture between the UAE-based international conglomerate the Al-Futtaim Group and German executive aviation operator DC Aviation, was the first integrated corporate jet company to set up shop at the then newly inaugurated Dubai Al-Maktoum Airport (DWC) back in 2013.
Fast forward 11 years to the MEBAA executive aviation show, which took place at the very same airport between December 10 and 12, 2024, and AeroTime was given the opportunity to sit down with Holger Ostheimer, Managing Director of DC Aviation-Al-Futtaim, to learn more about the company, which has become a major player in the executive jet market.
With its headquarters in Germany, DC Aviation operates across the executive aviation value chain, providing aircraft management, maintenance, charter, ground handling and fixed-base operator (FBO) services. Its geographical footprint extends from its German homeland, where it has a presence at Stuttgart, Munich, Malta, and Nice and all the way to Dubai, which is becoming one of its major centers of activity.
An early believer in Dubai’s DWC potential
“We have been the first enterprise buying into the local market and believing in Al-Maktoum (DWC) airport as part of Dubai South,” Ostheimer said. “We were the first business to start construction, to open, and to start operations with the first integrated facility, the first hangar facility, the first standalone handling facility.”
“The market has obviously developed, but the fact that we were the first to put our money where our mouth was is something that makes us proud to this day,” he continued before going on to share some of the more recent developments at the facility.
“We provide maintenance services at our hangar facilities in Stuttgart and Dubai, across a wide range of aircraft types,” Ostheimer explained. “In Dubai, we began our handling operation in November of 2013 together with the [Dubai] Airshow and, since then, we have been providing ground handling services, hangar parking services, aircraft management services under our A6 [United Arab Emirates registration] AOC [Air Operator Certificate] and for a year and a half, we’ve also been operating under T7 [Republic of San Marino registration].”
“We have also Maltese and German AOCs,” he added.
On the customer service side, Ostheimer also highlighted that DCAF’s VIP terminal at Dubai-DWC provides immediate access to the aircraft.
He even pointed out the dimensions of the room where the interview was taking place to highlight the short-distance travelers must clear between the car and the plane at the company’s DWC facility.
An interesting fact is that DC Aviation started out in the 1990s as the corporate flight division of the DaimlerChrysler group, hence its initials. However, the firm no longer has any affiliation with the renowned German automotive group. It was purchased in 2007 by German private equity firm Aton and then merged with another Germany-based executive jet operator.
“Before the [2008] financial crisis we grew from 12 to 36 aircraft, and we doubled our workforce. But when the financial crisis hit, the fleet was reduced by a good margin to around the low 20s. However, we recovered over time and diversified internationally to Malta, to Dubai, with ground handling, hangar facilities,” Ostheimer explained.
Next, Ostheimer proceeded to outline the current standing of the group.
“We are standing at 34 aircraft under management right now and we are growing our third-party maintenance operation, both in Stuttgart, but also here in Dubai,” he said.
Ostheimer explained how DCAF is implementing its 360-degree service model in Dubai, through which one single company is able to provide all the services an executive aircraft owner could need.
DCAF has also seen considerable growth as a third-party maintenance organization. This is an area where Ostheimer expects to take on a more prominent role in the group’s activities, one in which the company is planning to place a strong emphasis over the next two years in order to fuel future growth.
“In light of the 360-degree approach, we’re obviously endeavoring to provide maintenance services to our managed aircraft,” he said. “But we are also offering this expertise we have to the third-party market, so any aircraft operator with a suitable type can come to us for maintenance.”
From its Dubai base, DCAF also plans to continue looking at opportunities across the Middle East, with the Saudi market being of particular interest due to its big plans for the aviation industry.
“You cannot ignore that,” Ostheimer said. “We have to see where we fit into this.”
Is the market reaching saturation point?
Amid the generally bullish outlook for the region, Ostheimer also sounded a note of caution, expressing some concern about what he described as a downward spiral in prices squeezing out operators that prioritize quality of service.
“I think there’s a challenge: making an operation worthwhile, providing all the resources, expertise and know-how and being able to charge services at the right price point,” he said. “Aircraft operators providing aircraft management services are offering rates that are not really geared up to profitability, and that is a very concerning development for an organization like ours that is trying to meet the highest standards, deploying expertise and know-how and trying to make things work.”
He also highlighted how the same factors that make Dubai an attractive place for business aviation act as a magnet for operators with varying standards of service.
He continued: “This is something that you can see outside the region as well, but because Dubai is such an attractive and interesting market, very dynamic, a lot of stakeholders from Europe and other regions are coming here to providing their management services at a price point that is very difficult to swallow and a challenge to compete with, if you’re operating at a quality and cost level like we have.”
This fiercely competitive landscape extends to other segments of the business such as ground handling services. Ostheimer pointed out how, for example, Al Maktoum-DWC airport has five ground handling licenses for around 15,000 to 18,000 movements per year. This is a number of movements per license that, while growing, is still well below that of airports such as Nice (NCE) which has three licenses for some 40,000 to 45,000 movements per year.
While acknowledging that it is difficult to regulate such an international setup, Ostheimer also expressed his concern about market oversaturation potentially leading to price dumping and unhealthy margins for business.
So, how does DC Aviation compete in this fiercely competitive environment? What are its key Unique Selling Points (USP)?
“The 360-degree approach,” Ostheimer said. “There is only a very small number of participants left in the market that are providing everything out of one hand. That is the USP we are offering to the market, to the client.”
“But this is also a commercial opportunity for us,” he continued. “To be able to capture revenue across the various different verticals, whether that’s [aircraft] management, ground handling, hangar parking, maintenance activity…and securing client relationships and being able and provide the different level of service is where it makes it worthwhile.
“Management alone and then compliance and meeting regulations and the resources required to do this proficiently would be way too expensive,” he concluded.
