Dubai: The Airbus hub in the Middle East
The heart of Airbus’ Middle East presence is Dubai, where the company has developed close relationships with all of the regional market players, including Emirates Airlines, Etihad Airways, Qatar Airways, Air Arabia, Gulf Air, D.A.E, Mubadala, and others.
Airbus also has made a major commitment to providing logistics, support, training and services for the Middle East, along with a portion of Africa, as part of its long-term partnership vision with airlines and other operators in these dynamic air travel markets.
Located at the entrance to the Dubai Airport Free Zone are the offices of Airbus Middle East, a subsidiary that is in charge of all Airbus commercial activities for the region – including marketing, sales, contracts and customer relations activities. This also is the home to the worldwide sales and marketing team for Airbus Executive and Private Aviation.
Across the street is the Airbus-owned Total Airline Services Company (TASC), which provides consulting services and technical assistance, while the Airbus Middle East Material and Logistics Centre is situated nearby inside the Dubai Airport Free Zone – offering more than 3,700 square metres of climate-controlled storage space and office facilities. Airbus also has a team of pilot instructors assigned to a training centre operated jointly by Emirates and CAE.
“Airbus has always understood the importance of creating long-term relationships with airlines in the Middle East, where mutual trust and confidence, slowly built over the years, is extremely important,” said Christophe Fanjat, the head of operations for Airbus Middle East. “This is symbolised by our very close cooperation with our customers in the region – which we consider not as customers, but more as partners.”
Fanjat has been representing Airbus in Dubai for many years, starting with the Support Division, where his activities included Emirates’ introduction of the A330-200 as a launch customer for this aircraft. He then was involved in the creation of TASC, and later helped in the establishment of Airbus Middle East, which became operational in 2006.
