Aviate Aviation expands to Dubai, plans to go further
Aviate Aviation has recently opened a Dubai office to meet increasing customer demand for aircraft sales and acquisitions, private charter and cargo.
The new Dubai office will now become the business headquarters, whilst Aviate’s previous base in Toronto, Canada, will continue to accommodate their North American clients.
The company, formed in 2019, has gone from strength to strength, leading it to diversify its business to also offer private charter and cargo charter globally, according to CEO and co-founder Lawrence Binns (pictured above).
Founding Aviate
The business was founded, along with his partner and co-founder Sabur Quazi, as a boutique private aviation company.
“We wanted to start an aviation company that was unique and different than the rest,” Binns told CJI. They did this by ensuring that the business they deal with on a day-to-day basis was always transparent in its processes.
Setting up in Dubai
The UAE has become an exciting hub for aviation business, said Binns. This is the primary driver behind why Aviate opened the Dubai office, he added.
“It didn’t make sense to only do business in the North America or European markets, because those markets are very saturated. There are a lot of players who have been in the U.S/Europe for a very long time. It made much more sense to diversify and expand into growing markets, UAE and Saudi Arabia, as an example.
Binns is also a believer in “old-school” dealmaking, which means that face-to-face meetings are integral to their company’s growth.
Trump and tariffs
Despite the on-off tariff debacle plaguing US-Canada relations throughout the early months of 2025, Binns said business has been brisk and he remains as optimistic, as he was at the start of the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2024.
“I always believe in staying very optimistic” no matter what the case, he said.
“So far, in the first quarter of 2025, regardless of Trump and the Canadian-US situation with tariffs, business has shown excellent growth. We found it was brisk from the end of Q4 into Q1 of this year, more so than we did through the first two or three quarters of 2024.”
Cargo expansion
Identifying a market niche for cargo charter operations, Aviate Aviation established a cargo business as a separate entity from Aviate Aviation, named Aviate Aviation Logistics. They partnered with another colleague, who has 25 years of logistics experience.
“We found there’s a real lack in the marketplace for a company that can offer air cargo, ocean freight and ground freight door-to-door. …we decided to start this new company, and so far, it’s had excellent progress.”
“We have quite a few clients now that are on contract with us. Some of our larger clients are in Europe, and we work with a few other companies that are shipping worldwide from different parts of the world. So far, it’s been an exciting time, and it is growing along with the other lines of Aviate’s other businesses,” added Binns.
Looking towards the future
The founders believe the future is looking very bright as they move through 2025 and beyond. The company has plans to expand its private charter business worldwide and move into new territories with their logistics business, said Binns.
