Business | Aviation
Boeing Business Jets rides out credit crunch wave
The Middle East has seen 33 per cent of sales of Boeing's business jets, reaching at about 65 aircraft.
- By Nadia Saleem, Staff Reporter
- Published: 23:29 November 17, 2008
Dubai: The Middle East has seen 33 per cent of sales of Boeing's business jets, reaching at about 65 aircraft.
Since launching in 1996, the manufacturer's total sales stand at 197 business jets, 52 per cent of which were sold to private buyers, while 35 per cent to government owners.
Charles E. Colburn, marketing director, Boeing Business Jets, told Gulf News that the economic crisis has had "no real impact of their sales," as their clients are not borrowers so the credit crunch has not affected them.
"In some areas, people's wealth has declined due the stock market losses, and we have seen that sales have slowed down in those areas. But this is not happening in the Middle East nor do we anticipate it to," Colburn said, adding that, "We have had only one cancellation that may be attributed to the economic crisis and it was not in the Middle East."
Colburn revealed that in the Middle East, the manufacturer has 60 per cent share of the single-aisle market with 125 jets and 73 per cent of the widebody market with 62 jets in operation.
The North America and Europe markets come in second with 23 per cent sales each.
The Asia Pacific is growing as a market for the manufacturer, according to Colburn, signifying 17 per cent of their sales.
The European manufacturer has a backlog of 58 jets, at a value of $8.5 billion (Dh31.22 billion).
Their expectation for the next year and half are that sales will slow down.
"This is a tentative prediction due to the economic situation. But in the medium and long term, the outlook is very positive, especially in the Middle East," he said.
"There are a lot of old aircraft that will need to be replaced soon," he said.
The manufacturer's target is to sell 12 to 15 jets a year. Since 2006, Colburn said that they have seen a boom in orders, exceeding their expectation.
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