Barbara Baumgartner
“Goals are not necessarily achieved by the best or more knowledgeable, but by the ones who don’t give up and continue to try hard to achieve them.”
Profile:
Barbara Baumgartner’s fascination with aviation started at an early age. Her move to Dubai in 1997 with her husband resulted in her being handpicked to head the asset management and private aircraft operations for an affluent Saudi family business conglomerate. Barbara’s entrepreneurial spirit eventually paved the way for her to join FAI rent-a-jet as a local representative for the Middle East in January 2003. Her significant achievements in establishing FAI’s presence in the region, and her contribution to the growth of the business in the Middle East, led to the inauguration of FAI’s branch office in Dubai in December 2011.
Today, as Managing Director of FAI rent-a-jet AG, Barbara leads a team of 12 full-time employees, in addition to freelance medical crews. She is directly responsible for the management and growth of charter sales, operations, and the management of local based medical teams as well as that of FAI Dubai’s medical escort business on commercial aircraft, thereby cementing her place as a figure of authority in the aviation industry in the Middle East.
In her free time, Barbara supports several VC initiatives that fund, coach and mentor start-ups, particularly those led by women entrepreneurs, which is her way of giving back to the region.