Bahrain Airport Company Progresses 11-Year Extension of Texel Air's Hangar Operations at Bahrain International Airport

Bahrain Airport Company (BAC), which operates and manages Bahrain International Airport (BIA), said it is progressing an 11-year extension covering Texel Air's hangar operations at the airport. The announcement came on the sidelines of the Gateway Gulf Investment Forum 2026, held in Manama on 1–2 November.

Texel Air is a subsidiary of Chisholm Enterprises, which marks 20 years in the Kingdom in 2026. Texel Air acquired its twin-bay hangar facility at BIA in 2025 and has since invested significantly in upgrading the infrastructure and services there, which support aircraft maintenance, cargo operations and private aviation.

Ahmed Mohamed Janahi, Chief Executive Officer of BAC, said long-term partnerships give aviation businesses the confidence to plan, invest and grow, and that the extension would give Texel Air, a Bahrain-based operator, a platform to develop its operations and serve regional and international customers. George Chisholm, Chief Executive Officer of Chisholm Enterprises, said the planned extension signals the company's long-term commitment to the Kingdom and lets it plan the next phase of investment at BIA, including additional hangar capacity.

BAC has managed and operated BIA since 2010. Through Hala Bahrain it provides premium meet-and-assist services, runs the Awal Private Terminal for private aviation guests, and manages The Pearl Lounge at BIA. The airport recently won the Best Airport Globally for Arrivals Experience award under the Airport Service Quality (ASQ) program of Airports Council International (ACI).

Hangar space at an airport is capital-heavy and slow to replace, so the tenure of a lease largely determines how much a tenant will spend on the building. An 11-year horizon is long enough to justify expanding capacity and upgrading systems, which is the reasoning both executives gave: certainty on the airport side in exchange for investment on the operator side.

For the Gulf business-aviation and cargo market, the pairing matters because Texel Air's facility serves maintenance, cargo and private flying under one roof, and BIA already offers a dedicated private terminal and handling brand next door. Airports that bundle those services around a committed hangar tenant are building a base for operators who want maintenance and ramp access in the same place.

The extension is described as being progressed, not completed, so the milestone to follow is formal agreement of the terms. Chisholm Enterprises has also linked the arrangement to additional hangar capacity, and any announcement of that build-out would be the next concrete sign that the longer tenure is being converted into investment.