Arabian Aircraft Services Co. (Arabasco), the Jeddah, Saudi Arabia-based MRO and FBO services provider, has shut down. AIN was able to confirm with three independent Saudi sources that the company has closed down due to a lack of business and the malaise that is currently affecting the Saudi business aviation sector.

Founded in 1984, Arabasco was one of the oldest and most respected names in the Saudi business aviation industry, providing FBO services in Jeddah, Riyadh, Medina, Yanbu, and Dammam. The company also offered ground handling and aircraft management.

One source said the company owed around $90 million in fees to the General Authority for Civil Aviation (GACA), a situation that had adversely affected its attempts to build additional hangar space at Jeddah International Airport, which would have allowed it to improve its MRO offering there.

CEO Hashem Jamalallail, who previously said the company was looking to boost its MRO business to increase revenues, did not attend the Middle East and North Africa Business Aviation Association’s (MEBAA) conference in Jeddah on Tuesday, while other company officials were also not in attendance.