At the top tier of the executive jet market, new aircraft orders rarely come in batches.
That’s why Abu Dhabi-based RoyalJet’s announcement during the MEBAA executive aviation show in December 2024, that it was acquiring up to nine Airbus Corporate Jets (ACJ) ACJ320neos [the executive version of the popular A320 airliner – ed. note] didn’t go unnoticed.
What’s more, this deal, which includes three firm orders and six options, marks a shift towards Airbus for what was until now primarily a Boeing operator.
AeroTime sat down for an in-depth conversation with Shafiul Syed, CEO of RoyalJet, in order to learn more about this rather exclusive operator, with close links to Abu Dhabi’s Presidential Flight, and better understand the factors driving the recent Airbus order.
“We were born 21 years ago, out of Abu Dhabi’s Royal Fleet,” explained Syed. “That’s where we picked up the RoyalJet brand from. We’ve evolved a lot over these 21 years, though, from being totally dedicated to serving the royal family to now serving all kinds of commercial customers.”
In fact, true to its name, RoyalJet still does a good deal of flying for Abu Dhabi’s extended royal family, even if some of its members already have their own aircraft.
Syed explained how this relationship has shaped the business over time, particularly its focus on large executive jets, such as the BBJs [Boeing Business Jet], which – notwithstanding the recent Airbus order – makes up the core of RoyalJet’s fleet.
“The extended royal family comes to us, which is great. It is a good bit of our business, and we have built our fleet around that: all these BBJs [Boeing Business Jets] are what the royal family want to fly in. They tend to fly with their families, or if they’re on business or on government missions, with a rather large entourage. So, the BBJ is the aircraft of choice for this. If you drop a layer below that, into Bombardier, Gulfstream or Dassault, those aircraft just don’t quite fit enough [passengers] for them, because they need 30-plus seats. The BBJ is the ideal product and has been the platform of our success.”
From Boeing to Airbus
RoyalJet is actually the largest BBJ operator in the world. It had operated up to 14 aircraft of the type in the past and, at the close of 2024, it still boasted nine BBJs in its fleet. The ninth aircraft of this type was received as recently as Q4 2024.
The ninth and latest BBJ is a Combi aircraft, which has a different layout from the other aircraft of this type in the fleet, plus a cabin which can be easily shifted to accommodate any one of several different configurations, depending on the requirements of the mission. It can fly with 34, 44 or 54 seats, or even with a high-density option for 92 passengers. It can also be configured for mixed, passenger-cargo and only cargo missions, providing a remarkable amount of optionality.
“There’s peak season coming up here and we’re seeing some demand for this aircraft. People like the fact that it’s high density and has this flexibility, so that’s exciting,” said Syed.
The BBJs can fly for nine to 14 hours, depending on payload and weather.
“Taking Abu Dhabi or Dubai as the center, most of our traffic is elliptical. You can draw an ellipse that gets all the way to either Morocco or London, which is a good destination for us, on one side, and to Malaysia on the other side,” Syed said. “A lot of missions are in North and Central Europe. We can also get to Reykjavik, which is interesting because, once you’re in Iceland, you can refuel and keep going on into America and jump all the way across to the west coast.”
If the Boeing Business Jet is delivering what RoyalJet needs, why switch to the Airbus ACJ?
“This is the culmination of a 10-year process of evaluation,” Syed explained. “We’ve always looked at the competition, and Airbus has been pretty aggressive and dynamic in talking with us. Airbus is the right choice for now, so we’re an Airbus customer now!”
Syed clarified that both ACJs and BBJs will have a place in RoyalJet’s fleet in the future.
“Obviously, we’ll constantly review our fleet requirements, but we need those ACJs. The three ACJs we’re getting are going to catapult the whole RoyalJet brand. We won’t commence services with the aircraft for another three years, but we’ve got to reach out into the future, to think what the world of aviation will look like in five or six years from now and start designing, planning, and building that future today.”
Will the new ACJs be a like-for-like replacement for the BBJs?
“As the ACJs come on board, they will displace some of the BBJs, which we can then use on other missions and deploy into other areas. That lends itself to the strategy that we’re following.” Syed explained. “We have difficult and easy missions. I think the Boeing and Airbus aircraft both do those missions capably; they are effectively interchangeable.”
Syed added that when it comes to other aspects of the operation, such as crewing and spares, the two types are not so interchangeable. In this regard, though, he expressed confidence in the strong support base and support capabilities that both manufacturers have in the UAE.
“We’re in a unique place, we’re based in Abu Dhabi, our neighbor company, Etihad Airways, flies the Airbus 320 and, if we then come over to Dubai, and you look at flydubai, they fly Boeing. So, there’s a great mix of capabilities in this region. We can look left, we can look right, and we can make solutions work.”
Almost as remarkable as the switch from Boeing to Airbus is the fact that RoyalJet managed to secure relatively early delivery slots for its future ACJs, at a time when the European manufacturer’s assembly line is running pretty much at capacity.
“We’ve got a really healthy and close relationship with Airbus, so we managed to secure slots for the first ‘green’ aircraft to come to us in Q2 2026, and the next two in Q3 2026,” Syed said. “They come green, and we will then put them through interior completion.”
Syed could not confirm where these three aircraft are going to be outfitted or what the final cabin configuration will be.
“We’ll go through a tender process to select the best partners. It’s a great opportunity to design the future. First of all, we’re going to get some designers to help us navigate towards that new dawn and then we’ll go out and push the cabin completion tender.”
On executive aviation trends in the Gulf
Investment in new aircraft is certainly a vote of confidence in the future of the executive aviation industry in the Gulf region.
“I think the market is hugely buoyant, with vast opportunities and incredible growth. And there’s plenty of space for good operators,” Syed said. “The pie is growing massively. All the indices that you can see of this region are growing in double digits. However, the flip side of that is that I would like to see fair competition.”
Nevertheless, Syed echoed the concerns expressed by other senior industry executives at MEBAA about growth in the Gulf region having led to a proliferation of operators exerting downward pressure on prices, while not always being able to guarantee the same levels of quality.
“There are what we call ‘gray market operators’ out there, which don’t have the same standards, so they can have lower costs. A great example is how we at RoyalJet, just like Emirates, Etihad and flydubai do, send our pilots to the simulator twice a year for two days at a time. Some of those gray market operators don’t do that level of training. They will take off, do a fly-by and then land, whereas with us, it’s two days of training in which we will disorient the pilots so that they can train in recovering the aircraft. That’s how important safety is to us.
“But this comes at a price, this comes at a premium, so we can’t compete with the guy who doesn’t do that training. So, I’m hoping that there is fairer competition, and the market can see this is what you get. I don’t want it to be the other way around. I don’t want something bad to happen and then people say, ‘ah, we should have done this!’. I’d much rather have people actually open their eyes and see this is how it should be done.”
Syed was adamant about this point:
“There are many options of buying very cheap stuff, but if price is the dictator, then there’s something wrong with that, in my view.”
When it comes to competing in service, RoyalJet has a significant asset in its Fixed Based Operator (FBO) at Abu Dhabi (AUH) airport.
“I love our FBO. This is the essence of Abu Dhabi: the colors, the fragrances, the feel, the curated, personal experience,” Syed said. “It’s dedicated to RoyalJet, but designed the Abu Dhabi way. The Abu Dhabi brand is about being timeless, elegant, and sophisticated. We’re not, excuse my language, bling-bling!”
Syed went on describing in detail the distinctive elements of RoyalJet’s flagship FBO:
“You come in and we’ll create that experience that is amazing for you. And there’s a big deal on how it smells, the sounds that you’ll hear, the emotional sensitivities of it all. Even the way we deliver the service is all about Emirati hospitality: the Arabic coffee that we give you, the menu options that you have, the space, the colors… I go there regularly, and I just love reading the history and seeing some of the artworks around the history of UAE.”
Getting broadband into private jets
Another era in which RoyalJet is investing is inflight connectivity, increasingly a core element of the private flying experience. Syed keeps a close eye on developments in this space, for instance the adoption of SpaceX’s Starlink by a number of prominent airlines, including Qatar Airways.
“We will do it much better than the airlines. When you look at an A380 with 400 or 500 passengers, and compare it with us, with 30 passengers, you can see how the bandwidth will be distributed.”
Syed expressed hopes that technologies such as low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites will bring down inflight connectivity costs for operators and travelers alike.
“We are using Ka-band, provided by Inmarsat, which is based on high Earth orbiting satellites. So, you have three or four satellites, and you’ll get a satellite within range anywhere you go in the world. When they move, sometimes there’s a tiny bit of a black spot, but that will only last for 10-15 minutes, and then another satellite comes in and picks it up. The bandwidth is very good. However, the pricing structure is per megabyte (MB). So, imagine: a Netflix movie is around 1.2 gigabytes. That’s 1,200 MBs, and you’re paying per MB. That’s how they charge us. And we have to pass that cost on to the customer. So, in that regard, LEOs are incredible. It’s a flat fee, just like broadband at home: you pay a flat fee, and away you go!”
The subject of Starlink came up during the conversation, although Syed pointed out this system still has some shortcomings.
“If you scan the map of Starlink coverage, you’d see that America’s fully covered. South America is fully covered, except Venezuela. I think Europe is pretty good. Nothing in Russia. China is out. Most of Asia and Africa don’t have deals in place. Qatar has a deal in place, but as soon as you leave Doha, there will be no internet for you until you reach Europe. Not even the UAE has a deal, so we don’t have coverage here.”
Syed welcomed the additional competition in this space that the imminent commercial launch of Eutelsat’s OneWeb will bring to the market.
“There’ll be good competition for Elon Musk as well,” he said. “We are in a great place. These guys have great coverage and great pricing.”
Syed concluded by remarking how the choice of connectivity is only the last element in the complex journey that is designing the whole private flight experience. It starts with choosing the right airplane, then selecting the engines: next, you pick up the designer, the interiors and, finally, the connectivity technology.
“It’s like a tapestry that you kind of weave, before it becomes a work of art.”
