Saudi Arabia's civil aviation regulator has authorised Dubai-based VistaJet to offer domestic services in the kingdom, making it the first international private jet operator to enter the local market.
The move reflects Saudi Arabia's push to attract investments and contribute to the sector's development, the General Authority of Civil Aviation (Gaca) said in a statement on Wednesday.
“This step will foster greater competition, stimulate sector growth, and raise the quality of services for private aviation customers in the kingdom and across the region,” Awad Alsulami, executive vice president for economic policies and logistics services at Gaca, said.
VistaJet, part of Vista Global Holding, an international private aviation group, is headquartered at the DIFC and founded by Swiss billionaire Thomas Flohr.
VistaJet's entry into the Saudi Arabian market comes after the country lifted cabotage restrictions for on-demand charter companies, which came into effect on May 1. Cabotage refers to the right to operate a domestic flight carrying passengers or cargo between two airports within the borders of one country, by an aircraft registered outside of that country.
Approving VistaJet's entry into the market is part of the kingdom's efforts to build its general aviation industry. In May last year, Gaca said it aimed to increase the sector's contribution to gross domestic product to 7.8 billion Saudi riyals ($2.08 billion) and create 35,000 jobs by 2030.
VistaJet has served the Saudi market for more than 15 years, offering international travel routes. It recorded a 32 per cent year-on-year increase during the first half of 2025 in VistaJet programme members in the kingdom, the company said in a statement on Wednesday. The programme membership offers customers a subscription of flight hours on its fleet of mid-and-long-range jets, to fly them anytime and to any destination.
“Given the nature of Vista’s fully-owned floating fleet, the company is best positioned to offer immediate private aviation services throughout the kingdom, while ensuring the operational efficiencies of its worldwide operations continue to best serve local clients,” it said.
“With the largest international fleet of Global 7500 aircraft, and soon Global 8000 jets, VistaJet clients can additionally reach any point around the globe non-stop directly from the kingdom, thanks to its strategic central geographical position.”
Strong demand
As part of its Vision 2030 plan to wean the economy from its dependence on oil, Saudi Arabia is seeking to develop its aviation sector to become a global hub for travel, trade and cargo, while modernising the sector through regulation, infrastructure and foreign investment.
Saudi Arabia is anticipating strong demand from foreign investors after it announced plans to develop its private jet industry to attract affluent tourists, corporate travellers, high-ranking government officials and business jet operators and owners to the kingdom, a Gaca official told The National last year.
The aviation regulator is in talks with international companies across the supply chain, from business jet makers and fixed-base operators to maintenance and catering service providers, Imtiyaz Manzary, general manager for general aviation at Gaca, said in an interview in May 2024.
Saudi Arabia’s business jet sector posted a record 24 per cent jump in flight volumes in 2024 to 23,612 flights, with domestic jet flights rising 26 per cent to 9,206 and international jet flights rising 15 per cent to 14,406, Gaca said in a statement in February this year.
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
On Instagram: @WithHopeUAE
Although social media can be harmful to our mental health, paradoxically, one of the antidotes comes with the many social-media accounts devoted to normalising mental-health struggles. With Hope UAE is one of them.
The group, which has about 3,600 followers, was started three years ago by five Emirati women to address the stigma surrounding the subject. Via Instagram, the group recently began featuring personal accounts by Emiratis. The posts are written under the hashtag #mymindmatters, along with a black-and-white photo of the subject holding the group’s signature red balloon.
“Depression is ugly,” says one of the users, Amani. “It paints everything around me and everything in me.”
Saaed, meanwhile, faces the daunting task of caring for four family members with psychological disorders. “I’ve had no support and no resources here to help me,” he says. “It has been, and still is, a one-man battle against the demons of fractured minds.”
In addition to With Hope UAE’s frank social-media presence, the group holds talks and workshops in Dubai. “Change takes time,” Reem Al Ali, vice chairman and a founding member of With Hope UAE, told The National earlier this year. “It won’t happen overnight, and it will take persistent and passionate people to bring about this change.”
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