VIP terminals of business aviation worldwide: 308 terminals

The catalogue covers 308 business aviation terminals at 269 airports across nine regions: Russia, the CIS, Europe, the Middle East and Turkey, Asia, North America, South America, Africa, and Australia and Oceania. The data are gathered from the official sites of operators and airports and from industry directories.

A business aviation terminal is responsible for the stretch between the car and the aircraft steps. Along that stretch come check-in, screening, passport and customs control, and it is here that it is settled where the aircraft will park and who will fuel it. The difference between one facility and another is measured in minutes on the ground, in hours of availability, and in the types of aircraft the apron will accept.

This article draws nine regional reviews into one picture. From it you will learn: which three formats of accommodation exist and what each gives the passenger; how much time a separate entrance and clearance inside the building save; where the market is dense and why one city supports six or seven terminals; which networks hold part of the catalogue and what a network standard delivers; how to read apron and hangar areas and convert them into numbers of aircraft; what an IS-BAH certificate means and the six signs by which a terminal is checked before departure.

All the figures and names are taken from the catalogue. Links to the nine regional articles of the series are at the end.

What a separate terminal saves

A business aviation terminal divides the ground part of a flight into three sections: the entrance, the formalities, the journey to the aircraft. Each of them is measured in minutes.

A separate entrance

The business aviation terminal at Ahmedabad (AMD), of about 3 600 m², has a separate entrance and a direct exit to the private aircraft stands, which speeds up the turnaround of business jets and charters. ASG Business Aviation in Baku (GYD) has a separate entrance and guarded parking, with customs and passport control carried out inside the building itself. Hollywood Burbank Jet Center keeps two guarded entrances for confidential arrival of clients. Odyssey Aviation in Nassau (NAS) stands two and a half kilometres from the main terminal and likewise has its own entrance.

Formalities inside the building

Antalya's general aviation terminal occupies a separate building in the southern part of the airport, away from the passenger terminals. At Signature Flight Support Geneva both Swiss and French customs are handled on site, which is convenient for trips into neighbouring France. The Hayoma VIP terminal in Dakar (DSS), of 400 m², is arranged as a miniature air terminal: police, gendarmerie and customs are housed in the building itself, and the exit to the apron leads straight to the steps. Provo Air Center on Providenciales has opened the world's first drive-through customs hall, which passengers enter by car.

At Sheremetyevo, Vnukovo and Domodedovo business aviation uses the same runway as the scheduled flights, and its terminal is a separate one. Hence the guideline for the passenger: arriving 30 minutes before departure is enough, the formalities inside take 10–15 minutes, and there is no limit on baggage.

The journey to the aircraft

Terminal A in Sheremetyevo gives two time references: about two minutes from the lounge to the aircraft, and some ten minutes from the steps coming up to take-off. Both figures rest on how the site is arranged: its own apron with a hangar complex and a helipad, border and customs clearance in the same building.

At Paris — Le Bourget the car is brought to the steps, and average clearance time is about 15 minutes. General Aviation Center Innsbruck is arranged as a dedicated zone of the main terminal, and arriving 15 minutes before departure is enough: expedited screening and customs allow the passage from car to business jet in a matter of minutes. At Denpasar (DPS) customs, immigration and quarantine control take place in the terminal or right at the steps, and the transit from landing to the car takes about fifteen minutes. At IAM Jet Centre in Barbados arriving passengers are driven from the steps straight to the terminal, and the building has its own immigration, customs and screening.

Count the whole journey

The gain from the terminal adds to the ground leg. Signature Flight Support at Le Bourget: about twenty minutes to the centre of Paris. London City Airport Private Jet Centre: the Canary Wharf financial district is 15 minutes away. London Biggin Hill: a helicopter shuttle takes passengers to central London in about 6 minutes. Executive Flights Terminal in Dubai (DXB): about 15 minutes to Downtown and the DIFC.

Total door-to-door time consists of three parts: the drive to the terminal, the formalities and the walk to the aircraft, and the drive from the destination airport to the final address. The terminal cuts the second part to minutes. The choice of airport determines the first and the third. It makes sense to plan a flight on the sum of all three.

I look at the terminal from the operator's side. Our client segment is VIP passengers; Russian-registered aircraft fly within Russia and to friendly countries: Dubai, the Maldives, Turkey, Belarus, the CIS, the Middle East. An urgent flight within Russia is arranged in four hours. The alternate airport is a line of its own here: a diversion happens because of missing landing slots in Moscow traffic or because of weather, and the arrival terminal then changes along with the airport.

Three formats: a complex, a separate building, a lounge inside the terminal

By manner of accommodation the 308 objects of the catalogue divide into three groups: a separate complex — 144 (46%), a separate building — 127 (41%), a lounge inside the main terminal — 37 (12%). The first two groups together give 271 objects, 88% of the sample. The format sets the passenger's route from the car to the steps and the volume of work the facility performs with its own resources.

A separate complex — 144 objects (46%)

Its own territory: terminal, apron, hangars, often a separate entrance from the external road. The facility controls the stands and the handling of aircraft, so long-term parking, towing and maintenance are carried out on site.

A separate building — 127 objects (41%)

The terminal stands on the airport's common airfield and has its own screening, customs and border posts. The passenger clears the formalities inside the building and drives out onto the apron. The stands and hangars belong to the airport, so a place for the aircraft is agreed through the administration.

• Rome, Rome Ciampino General Aviation Terminal — about 1 800 m², six FBOs working under one roof with their own lounges and desks, hours 07:00–23:00, 365 days a year.
• Doha, Qatar Executive Premium Terminal — passport and customs control on site, a limousine brought across the apron to the aircraft, about 20 minutes to the centre.
• Tel Aviv, Fattal Terminal — Israel's first private terminal, opened in May 2019, with its own screening and passport control.
• Los Angeles, PS at LAX — a terminal for passengers of commercial flights with the only private partnership in the United States with both the TSA and Customs and Border Protection, and delivery to the aircraft across the apron.
• Marrakesh, Jetex VIP Terminal — a building of about 1 000 m², an adjoining apron of 25 000 m², round the clock.

A lounge inside the main terminal — 37 objects (12%)

Handling takes place in a dedicated zone of the passenger air terminal. Formalities are carried out individually and passengers are driven to the aircraft separately; the time en route depends on how busy the terminal is and how far away the stand lies.

• Tokyo, Business Aviation Gate — a zone inside Haneda's Terminal 3 with its own corridors, check-in desk, screening and CIQ booths; open round the clock, at a tariff of 400 000 yen per arrival or departure for a group of up to 20.
• Osaka, Premium Gate Tamayura — about 300 m² in Terminal 2, with separate screening and a dedicated passport and customs line, operating since 15 June 2018.
• Tbilisi, Primeclass VIP Lounge — the second floor of the international terminal beyond passport control, entry at a fixed tariff, round the clock.
• Novosibirsk, Tolmachevo VIP lounge — the left wing of the domestic air terminal, sector C, individual check-in and screening, delivery to the aircraft by separate transport.
• Lima, ATSA FBO — passenger formalities go through the main terminal and access to the VIP lounges is agreed with their operators; the operator's own 6 000 m² hangar for 9 aircraft serves for parking and maintenance.

Why the format is checked first

The format sets three parameters of the flight. The first is time: in a separate building the formalities fit into 10–15 minutes, while in a lounge inside an air terminal the period depends on the queues of the common flow. The second is operating hours: Naples accepts business aviation from 06:00 to 22:00, while the Jetex VIP Terminal in Dubai and Cedar Jet Center in Beirut work round the clock. The third is the volume of work done in-house: hangarage, parking, towing and maintenance are available where the infrastructure belongs to the operator.

The format changes over time. JetQuay in Singapore worked from 2006 in a free-standing building beside Terminal 2; in September 2025 the building was closed and demolished, the company moved to a temporary CIP lounge inside Terminal 2, and by mid-2027 a new private terminal under Plaza Premium Group management will open on the former site. In Tashkent an FBO complex with a terminal, apron and hangars is under construction at Tashkent-East airport, and at Zhukovsky a separate business aviation terminal is stated in the development plans. The format is verified against the date of departure.

Geography: where the market is dense and why

Of the 308 objects in the catalogue, 76 fall in the United States, 30 in Russia, 10 in the UAE, and 9 each in the United Kingdom and Australia. The American 76 terminals are spread across 62 airports: 47 cities hold a single object, and three or more are found only in Los Angeles, Teterboro and Fort Lauderdale. The Russian 30 objects cover 24 cities: six stand in Moscow, two in St Petersburg, and the rest are distributed one to a city.

Why one city holds 4–7 terminals

Density builds up in two ways. The first is that several airports serve the city at once.

The second way is competition between FBOs within a single aerodrome. Of the 269 airports in the catalogue, 28 hold two terminals or more, and 67 objects are concentrated in them. The leaders: Le Bourget with 5 entries, Teterboro and Van Nuys with 4 each, and Stansted, Dubai, Al Maktoum and Seletar with 3 each.

For a customer that means a choice within a single point on the map. Neighbouring FBOs on a common field differ in apron, hangars and the manner of clearing the border. At Teterboro, Atlantic Aviation has the aerodrome's largest apron and a heated hangar for the Global 7500; at Jet Aviation a US Customs and Border Protection post operates right inside the FBO building — one of the airport's two border clearance points. At Le Bourget, Universal Aviation keeps a heated 3 000 m² hangar for aircraft up to BBJ size and one of the two stands for wide-body aircraft; Jetex has its own 50 000 m² apron, parking for more than 30 cars and helicopter acceptance. The choice of FBO determines where the aircraft will stand, where the border will be cleared and who handles fuelling and parking.

Airports without scheduled services

Paris — Le Bourget (LBG). Europe's largest business aviation airport, with no scheduled services. Jetex, Signature (two terminals), Jet Aviation, Dassault Falcon Service and Universal Aviation work on the field, each with its own lounges and stands. The site also holds the Air and Space Museum and the ground of the Paris Air Show.

London — Biggin Hill (BQH). The only London airport working solely on business aviation. Slots are not required and an official border crossing point is in operation. On the site are the FBO Biggin Hill Exec, hangars, maintenance services and The Landing hotel. Here too is the United Kingdom's largest Bombardier business jet service centre: 22 bays, up to 14 Global 7500s at a time.

Teterboro, New Jersey (TEB). The nearest airport to Manhattan, 12 miles away, working with general and business aviation, with no scheduled services. The busiest business aviation airport in the world — about 500 movements a day. The catalogue holds four objects: Signature TEB South (a panoramic lounge in the centre of the airfield, security with 125 cameras), Signature TEB West — the former family-run Meridian, which operated from 1946 and joined the Signature network on 1 January 2024 — Atlantic Aviation and Jet Aviation.

Operator networks: who handles what and where

Part of the catalogue is held by network brands. Signature — 34 objects, ExecuJet — 19, Luxaviation — 16, Atlantic Aviation — 15, Jetex — 12, Universal — 8, Million Air — 6, Modern Aviation — 6. ExecuJet belongs to the Luxaviation group, and all 16 Luxaviation entries refer to those same ExecuJet objects — two rows of the table describe one set of facilities.

What a network FBO delivers

A single standard. The procedure for meeting passengers, clearing them and working with the crew is the same across the network. Signature is the world's largest network of private air terminals, with more than 200 locations in 27 countries. Atlantic Aviation is North America's second largest network, with about 105 locations; Bermuda's only FBO passed to it in December 2025 after the purchase of Cedar Aviation Services and became its 109th. Modern Aviation took American Aero FTW in Fort Worth into the network in the summer of 2024 and is spreading the standards proven there across its other locations.

Predictability in an unfamiliar place. The set is known in advance: a separate lounge, a meeting room, a crew rest room, a car brought to the steps, formalities cleared on site. Jet Aviation repeats the configuration in Cairns, Dubai and Van Nuys, while local particulars remain: in Cairns customs, immigration and quarantine clearance take place at the facility, in Dubai customs and border control, and the Van Nuys terminal was one of the first in the network to supply sustainable aviation fuel.

One contractual and loyalty perimeter. Universal Aviation is the ground division of Houston-based Universal Weather and Aviation, with representation in more than 20 countries: Dublin, Dammam, Singapore's Seletar and Sapporo are all covered through a single counterparty. Signature Elite Class at London Luton opens the terminal to easyJet passengers who have paid for private check-in.

Partner networks. Independent FBOs combine under common standards. Air Elite includes Grafair at Stockholm Bromma, Dassault Falcon Service at Le Bourget, Business Aviation Centre Frankfurt of Kurz Aviation, Platinum on the Gold Coast, DC Aviation Al-Futtaim in Dubai and Aerocardal in Santiago — the network's first South American member. Paragon Aviation Group is represented by ExecuJet in Monterrey and by the Chantilly Air terminal outside Washington, which the network named FBO of the Year in 2025. Signature also works through partners: Venice belongs to Signature Select, and Brazil's Líder Aviação handles Congonhas and Santos Dumont under the Signature codes CGH and SDU.

One network across different regions

Jetex covers six regions with twelve objects: Paris-Le Bourget, Istanbul and Rome-Ciampino, Dubai, Abu Dhabi (Al Bateen) and Muscat, Singapore-Seletar, Toluca outside Mexico City and Guarulhos in São Paulo, Marrakesh, Casablanca and Abidjan.

ExecuJet is present in Berlin, Barcelona, Brussels, Faro and Munich's GAT, at three locations in Dubai, in Kuala Lumpur, Monterrey, Cape Town, Lagos, the Seychelles and Mayotte, and in Sydney, Melbourne, Auckland and Wellington. The network built and first ran the business aviation terminal in Denpasar.

Atlantic Aviation and Modern Aviation work only in North America — 15 and 6 objects. Million Air has five terminals in the United States: White Plains, Houston, Addison outside Dallas, Austin and San Antonio; outside the country, the partner facility Aerosupport in Cartagena.

Where there are no networks

Russia holds 30 objects in the catalogue and not one network FBO. The terminals are run by Vipport at Vnukovo-3, A-Group at Sheremetyevo and Pulkovo, JetPort SPb at Pulkovo-3, Jet Port Yug in Sochi and Krasnodar, Gazpromavia at Ostafyevo, and the airport holdings Novaport and Airports of Regions in the regions.

In the CIS all 13 objects are held by local operators: ASG in Baku, Kazakhstan Air Services in Astana, and airport companies in Tashkent, Minsk, Bishkek, Dushanbe, Ashgabat and Yerevan. Closest to the network model is Primeclass of Turkey's TAV — Almaty and Tbilisi; the general aviation terminals in Ankara, Izmir and Bodrum operate under the same management.

In Asia, eight of the 34 objects belong to global networks: Jet Aviation in Singapore and Shanghai, Jetex at Seletar, Universal Aviation at the Seletar business aviation centre and in Sapporo, ExecuJet in Kuala Lumpur and Denpasar, TAG Macau. The rest are held by airport companies and holdings: Adani in Mumbai and Ahmedabad, GMR in Delhi and Hyderabad, Korea Airports Corporation at Gimpo, Shenzhen Airport Group in Shenzhen. A domestic network has grown in China: Deer Jet of the HNA group holds FBOs in Sanya and Haikou. The level of service at such a point is worth verifying object by object in advance.

Scale in figures: aprons, hangars, areas

The area of the building shows the comfort on the ground. The area of the apron and the hangars shows whether a particular aircraft will be accepted and whether a place will be found for it in high season. These figures are worth looking at before the request goes in.

Pulkovo-3 provides the reference values: a complex of about 100 000 m², a passenger terminal of 4 000 m² for 1 500 passengers a day, apron No. 6 of over 50 000 m² for more than 30 aircraft, and a hangar of three sections of 2 500 m² each. One section holds a Boeing 737-900 or five Challenger 605s.

A few more reference points: Sheikh Saad in Kuwait City — 10 000 m² over three floors, its own apron and shelters for eight aircraft; Fireblade in Johannesburg — two hangars of 3 500 and 13 000 m²; American Aero in Fort Worth — a 31-acre campus with an 11-acre apron and about 23 000 m² of hangars; Atlantic Aviation in Bermuda — a 6 400 sq ft terminal and a 700 000 sq ft apron on the transatlantic routes.

How to read these figures

A hangar converts into aircraft directly. The 8 400 m² in Riga take up to five Boeing Business Jets or nine Gulfstream G550s. The 12 490 m² at Gimpo take up to eight G550s or Global 6000s. The 9 725 m² in Kuala Lumpur take up to 15 midsize and heavy jets. Dividing the area by the number of aircraft gives a working range: from 650 m² per midsize jet in Kuala Lumpur to 1 700 m² per BBJ in Riga. The spread is set by the hangar's layout and the parking plan.

The apron answers for peak load. Olbia handles about 15 000 movements a year, 80% of them between late May and early October. At Nice in high season business aircraft take off every few minutes. At facilities like these, parking and hangar space are booked in advance and the transit is planned around a fast turnaround.

Before departure, check three parameters: the largest aircraft type the apron accepts; whether the hangar is heated or air-conditioned for long-term parking; and the airport's slot regime. Sharjah accepts aircraft without slot restrictions and serves as an entrance to the Dubai conurbation.

Standards, and how to tell a good terminal from a sign over a door

Anyone can hang up a "VIP terminal" sign. The verifiable part begins with certification.

What IS-BAH is

IS-BAH is the industry standard for business aviation ground handling. It describes an FBO's work on the ground: towing, fuelling, vehicle movement on the apron, staff training, incident review. At its base lies a safety management system: every deviation is recorded, reviewed and the procedure rewritten.

The status is confirmed by an independent audit, which is then repeated. There are three stages:

• Stage 1 — procedures are documented and implemented, staff are trained.
• Stage 2 — the auditor has confirmed that people work to those procedures every day.
• Stage 3 — the highest stage, at which the safety system works sustainably and improves itself.

Of the 308 objects in the catalogue, 29 mention IS-BAH certification. Stage 2 is stated for 14 of them, Stage 3 for 7, and another 8 name the certificate without a stage. There is no Stage 1 entry in the catalogue.

Examples from the catalogue

The Riga FBO is certified to IS-BAH Stage II, a level reached by fewer than twenty European FBOs. Vipport remains the only FBO in Russia with an IS-BAH Stage 2 certificate. American Aero in Fort Worth was the first in the world to pass Stage 3, and Modern Aviation in Seattle the first in the Western hemisphere. The Deer Jet facilities in Sanya and Haikou received China's first IS-BAH certificates and later confirmed the highest stage. ExecuJet at Lanseria became Africa's first certified FBO in 2015.

Six signs to check before departure

1. Certification. The operator names the standard and the stage: Jetex at Le Bourget was the first FBO in France to pass IS-BAH and Safety 1st; MJets in Bangkok holds IS-BAO, IS-BAH Stage 3 and ISO 9001:2015; Aerocardal in Santiago holds IS-BAH, ISO 9001 and Argus Gold Plus.

2. Its own apron. An apron is described for 129 objects. Aerocardal in Santiago has 11 000 m². Establish the area, the largest aircraft type accepted, and whether a car can be driven directly to the aircraft.

3. Customs and border control on site. Such clearance is mentioned for 57 objects. Jet Aviation in San Juan has its own US Customs and Border Protection post, and American Aero has a round-the-clock post at Meacham airfield.

4. Operating hours. Round-the-clock operation is declared by 110 objects. For the rest the working window is limited: ExecuJet Sydney works 06:00–22:00, ExecuJet Melbourne 06:00–23:00, and GAT Munich accepts business aviation from 06:00 to 22:00, with night operations by arrangement. A night departure from these is agreed in advance.

5. Hangar storage. Hangars are described for 157 objects. For long-term parking, establish the hangar area, whether it is heated or air-conditioned, and the largest aircraft type that fits inside.

6. Fuel at the facility. Fuelling and fuel are named by 54 objects. Aerocardal is the only FBO in Santiago with its own bowsers and into-plane fuelling, Platinum on the Gold Coast acts as a World Fuel agent supplying Jet A-1 and avgas, and ExecuJet in Sydney offers SAF.

A terminal covering all six points will handle a flight without outside contractors. Every missing point adds a link, time and cost to the route.

Conclusion: the terminal is chosen together with the airport

A catalogue of 308 objects shows a simple thing: the terminal affects a flight as strongly as the type of aircraft does. The order of checking is always the same. First the format of accommodation and the operating hours. Then the apron and hangar for the particular aircraft type. Then border and customs clearance on site. In cities with several airports, and on fields with several FBOs, this choice changes the time on the ground, the place the aircraft stands and the roster of contractors.

The data live a life of their own. Terminals close and are demolished, pass to other operators, and reopen after rebuilding with new areas. The status of a facility is confirmed against the date of departure.

The catalogue lets a route be checked end to end: terminals at the departure and arrival airports, operating hours and the slot regime, and the arrangements for handling, parking and clearance at the facility's operator. Routes, costings and questions about terminals are handled at grok.flights.

The nine regional reviews of the series

• VIP terminals of Russia
• VIP terminals of the CIS
• VIP terminals of Europe
• VIP terminals of the Middle East and Turkey
• VIP terminals of Asia
• FBOs of North America
• VIP terminals of South America
• VIP terminals of Africa
• VIP terminals of Australia and Oceania

Alexander Filimonov — business aviation: sourcing, acquisition and entry into service of aircraft.