In the Middle East private jet market, configuration is important. For example, among Arab clients there is a desire for separate areas for men and women on the plane, as well as specifications for the location of the bathroom.

 

The Middle East might account for less than one tenth of global private jet sales, but the passengers flying on the region's luxury planes can be the most demanding in the world.

"Yes the people who fly our planes are demanding, and they have a right to be," says Faisal Ghazi Kayal, managing director of Saudia Private Aviation.

"You're talking about the businessmen who very much invented the rules of the game."

Capturing the small but significant patronage of the region's super rich is becoming increasingly competitive as more private jet charter companies tap into a market that is expected to grow by around 12% in the next two years, according to the Middle East Business Aviation Association.

To do that "it's about offering the full experience, from pre-flight through to well after the plane has landed," says Kayal.

"The journey doesn't end with the aircraft landing, we have to think 'Where should we take him to, to which hotel?'"

The in-flight experience is just one part of it, although private jet manufactures and companies that fit out jets are continually pushing the limits of what can be done to meet client needs on board.

Later this month Lufthansa Technik is set to flight test its first steam shower aboard a Boeing 737 -- not an easy job given the hazard of creating pressure and heat within the cabin. Condensation also must not be allowed to form inside or on the plane's structure.

The royal treatment

For Kayal's clients who wish to be treated like kings, Royal Jet, the UAE-based charter company, actually caters for members of the Emirate's royal family.

The company is jointly owned by Abu Dhabi Aviation and the Presidential Flight Authority, the royal flight service.

"It's like having a fleet of boutique hotels," says Shane O'Hare, the company's CEO, from the luxurious confines of one of the firm's 737 Boeing Business Jets.

Cultural needs are taken into particular consideration.

"Among Arab clients there is a desire for separate areas for men and women and they are very specific where the bedroom may be located," says O'Hare.

"It's important that the bedrooms are located near the front of the plane, while for some other markets its OK for them to be located near the back; so configurations are very important."