INAEC Aviation Corporation (INAEC) participated in the Asian Sky Forum for Business Aviation, held last June 26 to 27, in Jakarta, Indonesia. This second Asian Sky Forum is organized by Asian Sky Group (ASG), an Asia-Pacific business and general aviation transaction and consultancy firm. The event included panel discussions on the importance of Southeast Asia, the Asian charter market, the challenges of aircraft maintenance, and other trends and issues in business aviation; fireside chats with aviation personalities, like Jenny Lau, President of the Asian Business Aviation Association (AsBAA) and Jeffrey Lowe, ASG Director; and networking opportunities with various members of the global business aviation community.

INAEC’s contingent consisted of Dexter Ampong, General Manager, Jessie Jorge Lopez, Head of Fixed Base Operations, and Lexie Espinosa, Sales and Marketing Officer.

Mr. Ampong represented the Philippine perspective as a panelist during the discussion on the importance of Southeast Asia, together with Adrien Chazottes, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Jet 8 Aviation, and Darren Broderick, Chief Executive Officer of Asian Corporate Aviation Management Pte Ltd (ACAM).

As he talked about the Philippine business aviation market, Mr. Ampong highlighted the role of foreign direct investments (FDI) in the Philippines in driving the business aviation industry forward. “Business aviation growth is really driven by economic growth. GDP has grown 5.7% year on year in March. That growth has impacted on us on the arrival of foreign investors. The domestic demand has not yet benefited from the growth in the GDP and the FDI,” Mr. Ampong said. “On the other hand, FDI is surging. We have never seen this kind of FDI coming into the country in the past decade. We are hopeful that in the next few years, this will translate to an upsurge in the business aviation industry.”

During the 2-day event, INAEC was also able to meet with key industry players, such as original equipment manufacturers (OEM), Asia-based air charter operators, civil aviation regulators, maintenance organizations, ground-handlers, among others.