Amid a boom in corporate jet use, Mercury Air Group Inc. has opened its first private aviation terminal in the Middle East.

The $42 million, 100,000-square-foot Royal Terminal, located at Kuwait International Airport, will be the largest private aviation terminal in the Middle East, the Los Angeles company announced Tuesday.

Mercury, a privately held company with more than $1 billion in annual sales, offers a range of services to the aviation industry, including fuel sales and air cargo handling. The company has been operating private jet terminals since the 1970s, but has not opened one since 2003.

In 2004, the company sold all of its terminals and agreed not to purchase another U.S. facility for at least five years.

But Mercury is becoming active overseas. In addition to the Kuwait terminal, the company has pursued emerging opportunities across the Middle East and in Asia, where private aviation is gaining in popularity.