Budget Dubai, a franchise of Budget International, offers extensive transportation services besides the traditional daily rental of cars in the emirate.

The franchise is owned by NIC which has a diverse portfolio of businesses including a travel company and vehicle dealerships.

Budget Dubai offers long-term leases of all types of vehicles from the smallest saloon car to 51-seat luxury coaches.

"We have a chauffeur drive company, Prime Limousine, whose main business is to give visitors to Dubai a safe driving experience with trained professional chauffeurs, either to business appointments or for leisure trips," said Budget Dubai general manager Duncan Peat.

"Vehicles in the Prime Limousine fleet are mainly Cadillac Deville and Cadillac DTS, with all the luxury features one would expect in a chauffeur driven vehicle.

"There is also a thriving bus division. The luxury fleet consists mainly of Mercedes 51-seater luxury coaches. Coaches are available for hire by tour operators or private groups and can be used for UAE tours, city tours or airport transfers."

Budget Dubai also has a large fleet of four-wheel drive vehicles, including Toyota Landcruisers, Nissan Pathfinders and Rav 4s, specially adapted for use off road, Peat said.

Budget is the car rental partner of Emirates Airline. It offers mileage credits to members of the Emirates frequent flier programme Skywards, as well as the Saudi Arabia Airlines programme Alfursan. Budget Dubai will soon open a new office next to Deira City Centre shopping mall where customers will be able to enjoy state of the art facilities, collect their rental cars, and reserve chauffeur drive all at one point.

The franchise has been named the Official Transportation Company for the Dubai World Cup, the world's richest horse race.

Besides Dubai, Budget International also has franchises in most Gulf and Middle East nations including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, UAE, Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon and Oman.