Qatar Executive’s Plans Put to the Test as Gulf Flights Fall

Business jet departures from Qatar and Bahrain fell 54% between 1 March and 25 September, compared with the same period of 2025, according to WingX data published by Aviation International News (AIN) on 7 October 2026. Business aviation traffic in the Gulf has fallen since the war on Iran broke out. Hamad International Airport (DOH | OTHH) was the worst performer, down 85%. 

Traffic between Gulf Cooperation Council states and European destinations rose, however, including Spain (29%), the UK and Switzerland (11% each) and France (7%), as well as the United States (24%).

Qatar Executive, the private aviation arm of Qatar Airways Group, operates in this environment. In April 2026, it took delivery of its tenth and last Gulfstream G700 under an order announced in October 2019.

The central question it faces is how to keep expanding while departures from Doha fall. The timeline suggests that the company did not start looking for a way out when the crisis hit; it had built most of it beforehand. 

It did so through several tracks: the European arm, which obtained its Maltese certificate in November 2025; the G700 fleet, whose deliveries began in 2024 and were completed with the tenth aircraft in April 2026, bringing its Gulfstream fleet to 25 aircraft; and improvements to its customer offer. Some links were completed after the war broke out, including the US licence and the transfer of an aircraft to Malta.

An infographic detailing Gulf business jet traffic changes and comparing the ranges of Gulfstream and Bombardier jets.
A matrix showing regional business jet traffic shifts and the nautical mile range of key ultra-long-range jets. Chart: Aljaweea, sources: Aljaweea, Gulfstream, and Bombardier.

Track One: Europe, a Step Already Taken

European expansion is no longer an option under study. In January 2025, the Swiss aviation news platform ch-aviation reported that the company was considering obtaining a European air operator certificate. Thierry Antinori, then chief commercial officer of the group, said: “We can sell even more flights than what we have in supply.” He added that private aviation revenue had risen 26% over the previous 12 months.

Since then, according to ch-aviation, Qatar Executive Europe has obtained a Maltese air operator certificate in November 2025, after announcing its intention to do so in October 2025. In March 2026, it received a licence to operate flights to the United States, and in April 2026, it moved the last of its Global-series aircraft to Malta.

These steps address an existing constraint: ch-aviation reported that licensing restrictions had prevented the company from operating commercial flights within the European Union. The Maltese arm, therefore, opens a market in which it could not operate freely and allows it to serve customers from a base outside Doha. The move began before the war: the Maltese certificate was issued in November 2025, while US-Israeli strikes on Iran began on 28 February 2026.

These steps come as traffic between the Gulf and Europe has risen. But WingX co-founder and Managing Director Richard Koe told the Corporate Jet Investor conference in Dubai that owners are spending the summer season in Europe and the United States without moving there permanently.

Track Two: A Fleet of 25 Gulfstreams Since 2015

On 15 April 2026, Gulfstream Aerospace announced the delivery of the tenth G700 to Qatar Executive. It said the delivery completed the 2019 order and that it had delivered 25 aircraft to the company in total since the partnership began in 2015.

Gulfstream Aerospace president Mark Burns said on delivering the last aircraft: “Qatar Executive has been a valued and respected partner for more than a decade. We were honored to have them as our international partner for the G700 launch and first delivery and appreciate their continued trust as we deliver yet another high-quality aircraft to their growing world-class fleet.”

The company’s official fleet page lists nine G700s, 15 Gulfstream G650ERs, two Bombardier Global 5000s and one Airbus A319CJ. The page has probably not been updated since the tenth delivery: 15 G650ERs plus 10 G700s make 25 aircraft, the same figure Gulfstream announced.

Capacity was the constraint Antinori described in January 2025, when he said the company was selling more flights than it had. Since then, the G700 fleet has grown from six to ten aircraft as of April 2026. With departures from Hamad International down 85%, the company’s ability to operate these aircraft from bases outside Doha and on flights between third countries matters more.

Badr Mohammed Al-Meer, then chief executive of Qatar Airways Group, said in a press release issued on 6 January 2025, when the company took delivery of two more aircraft of the type: “We are incredibly proud to continue growing our fleet with the groundbreaking G700, which delivers an innovative and exceptional experience for our customers. These aircraft represent our passion for redefining private aviation and offering the best possible luxury experience in the skies, exceeding the expectations of our esteemed passengers and clients.”

Track Three: The Offer and the Competition

Competition is not only about the fleet. In December 2025, the company announced a plan to equip all its Gulfstream and Bombardier aircraft with Starlink internet by early 2026; at the time, half of its G650ERs and all of its Global 5000s were equipped with it. In October 2024, according to a report by Doug Gollan, Qatar Airways began awarding Avios points on private aviation bookings, a benefit that draws on the group’s customer base.

The luxurious bespoke cabin interior of a Qatar Executive Gulfstream G700 aircraft, featuring beige seats and a large screen.
The bespoke cabin interior of the Qatar Executive Gulfstream G700. Handout: Qatar Airways.

The competitive challenge stems from competing aircraft types rather than the business itself. The Gulfstream G800 has a range of up to 8,200 nautical miles at Mach 0.85, according to the manufacturer’s page, while Bombardier markets its Global 8000 with a range of 8,000 nautical miles. Both fly further than the G700, which has a range of 7,750 nautical miles, so they compete with the aircraft on which the company built its long-range offer.

Qatar Executive has not announced any new orders since the G700 deliveries were completed.

Pre-Crisis Setup Helps, but Future Impact Remains to Be Seen

Before the latest geopolitical crisis, the company built several lines of business that have served it in this phase. But is that enough to stay competitive in a market whose conditions have changed? The company has not announced European flight or revenue figures, or an order for longer-range types.

Assessing the next phase rests on five indicators: the volume of flights and revenue the European arm in Malta generates; fleet utilisation after the fall in departures from Doha; the direction of demand and revenue, in light of Antinori’s remark that demand exceeds available capacity; any new order that includes types with a longer range than the G700; and the performance of the winter season, which Koe expects to be a peak period in the region if the situation stabilises. These indicators, not the timeline, will decide whether what the company built before the crisis succeeds.

Back to top button