MAE Jet Charters has begun private charter operations from Bahrain with a launch fleet of a Challenger 300, an Embraer Legacy and a Boeing 737 that it may expand as demand intensifies.

Part of Bahrain's MENA Aerospace group, the company is based in Manama with representation in the UAE and Saudi Arabia. The group's aircraft are operated by MAE Aircraft Management, a sister company to MAE Jets.

Ferah Senkaya, MAE Jets sales manager, says: "Sales volumes are growing substantially. We have alliances with major travel agents, charter brokerages and aircraft operators throughout the world."

MAE Jets is also the exclusive charter reseller of the Challenger 300. "Our staff are trained to European levels of service, quality, customer care and procedures."

Senkaya says: "We are serving the whole private charter market from corporate travel to mainstream destinations to family vacation travel, especially to non-gateway cities."

He adds: "We are also meeting demand for short-term single trips, or longer term charter agreements including pre-purchased blocks of hours at reduced rates." MAE Jets reports a rising demand for its aircraft management services.

Ralph Eisenschmid, MENA Aerospace group acting ceo, says MENA Aerospace continues to see excellent potential for general aviation in Bahrain. "It is strategically located to serve the Middle East and Asia. Bahrain also has a highly skilled workforce and forward thinking regulators at Bahrain's Civil Aviation Affairs."

John Bavister, group cfo, says: "We have managed the start of this business in a careful and orderly manner and are well placed to accelerate our expansion now that the economy is starting to show signs of having bottomed out. The MENA Aerospace group is ready to participate and benefit fully in the economy's recovery."