Dubai-headquartered trip-support firm Hadid International Services (Booth 1968), is looking to expand its presence in the U.S., building upon an investment that began five years ago with a team of individuals developing the business out of Texas, Florida, and California.
“This year Hadid has taken bigger steps than we ever have in this region. We have a new marketing campaign, and are looking at managing FBO business and laying the groundwork in the U.S.,” HOuston-based business development manager Cade Schalla told AIN. “I know there are [other] Middle East companies operating [here], and they are very aggressive in their approach.”
Hadid opened an office in Miami Beach, Florida, more than five years ago. “You have to do so [in the U.S.] to be a registered company [here]. I started working for the company in 2017 out of Houston. I put someone in the Miami office to cover the East Coast, and someone in Sacramento on the West Coast, who is mostly in Los Angeles. We have got the whole country covered. We are looking to expand in the U.S.”
From Dubai, Hadid offers flight support services, such as flight permits, charter, flight planning, navigation, governmental flight support and ground support, including handling, fueling, and concierge.
“We are able to offer all those services in this region too, including South America. Our colleague in Miami Beach speaks Spanish. We offer pretty much the full range of services. Dubai supplies services: my job, and that of my colleagues here, is to be the point person. We are involved in answering questions and planning. We don’t as of this time have offices outside the U.S., such as in South America, but we do have representatives in different South American countries and in Canada,” he said.
Schalla said Hadid’s 37-year-old pedigree was important in the U.S. market. “We are not a company that just arrived on the scene. When I call customers, they know who Hadid is. I have many connections. We can leverage contacts and fuel and get things arranged that some of our competitors can’t. The luxury [angle] is something we can offer. We can access difficult locations in the Africa or Asia regions, and clients know we have been in the business a long time.”
He cites contacts including OEMs to say that orders for business jets will pick later this year and in 2019.
“We have a favorable administration now, and that is going to help business aviation over the next couple of years, because some of the larger companies are buying new long-range aircraft. While short-range aircraft usually operate [inside] the U.S., [or] to places like Mexico, people are purchasing longer-range aircraft like the Gulfstream G400 or G500 for international trips, and that’s good news for people like Hadid,” he said.
