New interior and high-tech passenger facilities form part of ongoing fleet investment

Abu Dhabi, 24 June 2013 - After its $9 million complete upgrade and refurbishment, the new look Boeing Business Jet (A6-AIN)owned by Royal Jet, the international luxury flight services company chaired by His Excellency Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, is now back in service.

The BBJ - one of six-strong Boeing Business Jets in the Royal Jet fleet - will be put to work oncorporate and VIP private charters across the globe from its base in AbuDhabi on the eve of what is expected to be the operator's busiest summer in its 10-year history.

"The A6-AIN is now the pride of our fleet after her return to service," said Shane O'Hare, President & CEO of Royal Jet. "This is thesecond such upgrade to our fleet and ispart of Royal Jet's strategy to ensurethat we continue to raise the benchmark in the private jet travel market. All our BBJs are very individual and are five-star luxury flying hotels. It is luxury undefined when it comes to serving our VIP and corporate customers.

"The technical expertise of our project management, operations and technical teams ensured that the tag of the world's smartest looking BBJ stayed within Royal Jet. The professionalism of our engineers and staff from quality assurance, installation and the procurement teams was reflected in this product and we are confident that our guests will appreciate the thought that went into upgrading this aircraft."

The refurbishment was designed by EdéseDoret Industrial Design (EDID), the acclaimed New York aircraft interiors consultancythat is nostranger to exotic designs, to give the BBJ (A6-AIN) a new and more modern and contemporary interior, furnishings of the highest quality, luxury seats and sleeper beds.*

"The reason for the ongoing refurbishment of our fleet isto keep our fleet interiors fresh and modern, in line with the expectations of our guests," enthusedO'Hare. "At this end of themarket, we must always keep up with customer expectations and offer thevery best in cutting-edge technologyand luxury."

The task of performing the multi-million upgrade fell on Sabena technicsat its VIP completion centre in Bordeaux, France.As well as the cabin refurbishment,Sabena technics was responsible for performing aircraft maintenance and an in-flight entertainment AVOD upgrade, including obtaining necessary certification.

O'Hareconcluded: "Both EdéseDoret and Sabena technics' experience in delivering world-class luxury interiors for different aircraft has been reflected in the A6-AIN and what has come back to us is literally a brand new plane. I salute the professionalism and in-house capability of the Royal Jet team for delivering a product of  outstanding quality in the luxury global private jet business."    

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The A6-AIN's new interior has a quintessentially modern look with a number of surprising material choices, including ostrich skin on the seatbacks and bulkheads and jet glass on longitudinal bulkheads. Doret also used some new finishes, such as metals covered in a new smoked nickel coating, made possible by metal specialists Techno-coat.

The aircraft also saw a new complete cabin interior design concept that was implemented on the VIP areas as well as in the Business/Economy areas incorporating combinations of exotic wood veneers, decorative polycarbonate mirrors, finished plated metallic corner protections & trims, pure marble stone and luxurious leather patterns.The lavatory and galley areas were refurbished with more or less the same material.

In terms of technology, the upgrade fitted the A6-AIN with Custom Concept Control (CCC) In-Flight Entertainment and Cabin Management Control system. This system provides a wide range of Inflight entertainment system Audio/Video sources selection including Airshow as well as provides control of Cabin lighting System, Passenger call system, GSM and Wifi system. The system configured with passenger Graphical User Interface (GUI) at each seat screen with a support of dual language (English and Arabic) and Flight Attendant Graphics User Interface at each Flight Attendant Control Stations through the use of touch screen for allowing an intuitive control of the IFE/CMS system.

The Audio/Video On Demand (AVOD) system allows passenger to simultaneously access high-definition IFE content from any monitor in the cabin, ensuring limitless In-Flight Entertainment for every flight.

The A6-AIN is fitted with installation of a Cabin GSM (GSMConneX™) and WIFI communication system in order to provide GSM and Internet services for aircraft passengers enabling passengers to remain connected throughout their journey.

All the VIP seats incorporate an individual 10.4in HD in-seat monitor and passenger control unit (PCU), 37in HD LCD monitor on the bulkhead of the forward lounge, GSM phones connectivity with an AeroMobile GSM system, and all flight information presented in two languages - English and Arabic.

The A6-AIN BBJ was delivered to Sabena technics on August 20, 2012 and was redelivered on June 18, 2013. 

About Royal Jet:
Royal Jet, the international luxury flight services company, is jointly owned by Abu Dhabi Aviation, a publicly listed company on the Abu Dhabi Stock Exchange, and the 'Presidential Flight Authority' the royal flight service. Headquartered in Abu Dhabi, Royal Jet is chaired by His Excellency Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, who also serves as Minister in the UAE Federal Cabinet.

Royal Jet's business expansion plans have been created to find the best solutions to address the ever-growing and changing demand in the aviation industry. Its fast-growing fleet of jets includes six Boeing Business Jets, which makes Royal Jet the world's largest single BBJ operator.

Royal Jet's product offering spans several operations including; luxury air charter services: Royal Jet Charter Brokerage, which provides travel solutions through sourcing the appropriate aircraft for charter through a network of carefully audited operators; Royal Jet Medical Evacuation Service, with state-of-the-art equipment and highly-qualified, skilled and dedicated medical professionals; aircraft management and acquisition consultancy aimed at delivering optimum returns; and its award-winning Fixed Base Operations (FBO) /VIP terminal at the Abu Dhabi International Airport.

Royal Jet is a founder member of the Middle East Business Aviation Association (MEBAA), promoting the interests of the regional business aviation industry, and a member of the NBAA, MedLink (a service of MedAir Inc.) and the Flight Safety Foundation.

In recognition of its service excellence, Royal Jet has been voted the 'World's Leading Private Jet Service' by the World Travel Awards for six consecutive years, seven years as the 'Middle East's Leading Private Jet Charter' operator at the Middle East Travel Awards, and 'Business Aviation Operator of the Year' at the 4th Annual Aviation Business Awards. In addition, Royal Jet's Fixed Base Operations facility (FBO) in Abu Dhabi was voted 'Best in the Middle East' by Aviation International News.

For more information please visit: www.royaljetgroup.com.

For further details contact:
ACTION Public Relations
Gladson Ronad
Tel: +971 55 1980881
Email: gladson.r@actionprgroup.com

© Press Release 2013