1 minute ago 2009-11-29T02:46:02-08:00
DUBAI (AFP) – US aircraft manufacturer Boeing said on Monday that Middle East carriers will grow further after bucking the slowing trend in global travel.
"We see tremendous growth for the Middle East region," Randy Tinseth, vice president of marketing at Boeing Commercial Airplanes, said on the sidelines of the Dubai Airshow.
"Middle East carriers are well-positioned to meet those growth requirements with the fleet capacity they have in form of unfilled orders, or backlog," he said, predicting, however, that the region's carriers will need "1,710 new aeroplanes at 300 billion dollars over the next 20 years."
Tinseth told reporters in a briefing that Boeing forecasts a global recovery in passenger traffic in 2010 and a return to profitability for carriers in 2011 while 2012 should see an increase in demand for aircraft.
"Robust growth in the Middle East as well as China, India and other emerging markets with dynamic populations and growing incomes will lead toward a more balanced airplane demand worldwide," Boeing said in a statement released at the briefing.
The aviation industry has been reeling under the impact of the global financial crisis, with travel demand falling since autumn 2008.
Middle East carriers have so far bucked the trend, registering steady growth "driven primarily by market share gains on long-haul routes via Middle Eastern hubs," according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
