The Middle East & North Africa Business Aviation Association (MEBAA) kicked off its 2016 events calendar with an education session at the International University of Rabat (UIR) in Morocco. 

The education session was held last week and attracted over 200 students from several universities across Morocco, faculty and business aviation professionals. 

The programme was opened by the president of the university, followed by a speech from MEBAA Founding Chairman Ali Ahmed Al Naqbi.

Among the speakers were of Morocco’s Civil Aviation Authority Director General Khalid Cherkaoui and ONDA (Office National Des Aéroports) Director of Marketing Authority Ibtissam Mghari, who delivered a speech on behalf of ONDA’s CEO Zouhair El Aoufir. 

“We are here to continue our effort in raising awareness and educate students on the importance of business aviation and enlighten them about all the opportunities awaiting them after graduation” said Al Naqbi. 

MEBAA is keen to encourage students to join the industry and will be organising Futures Day at MEBAA Show 2016 with seminars, interactive sessions and tour of the static display for students. 

The seventh edition of the show will be held from December 6 to 8, 2016 at Dubai World Central (DWC) in Dubai, UAE. 

MEBAA will also hosting a two day IS-BAH and IS-BAO workshops prior to the show. 

Meanwhile, the MEBAA Conference returns again this year and for the first time ever will be held in Doha, Qatar in September as a two day event, in addition to two conferences, one in Jeddah and in Dubai. The conferences will be organised as a series of interactive panel and roundtable discussions with presentations and concluded with a networking session.

“MEBAA Conference is a highly respected event that gathers the business aviation industry’s prominent leaders, influential stakeholders, and the regulatory bodies to addresses issues affecting our industry” said Al Naqbi. 

MEBAA) is the official representative of the business aviation industry in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region and is a member of the International Business Aviation Council (IBAC). MEBAA is a non-profit association established in 2006 with the mission to provide a platform for members of the business aviation industry in the region to gather, understand and communicate the needs and benefits of the industry.

Today, MEBAA represents over 245 companies within the Mena region and provides a number of products and services to its members, including the MAIS (MEBAA Aviation Insurance Scheme) insurance scheme for operators. 

In addition to various networking events, MEBAA hosts the MEBAA Show, which ranks as the third largest business aviation show in the world and MEBAA Show Morocco.