Dubai: Boeing Co sees the Middle East and Asia tussling over which region will have the larger number of wide-body aircraft on back-order in the coming years.
Middle East airlines currently account for 30 per cent of all Boeing wide-body aircraft on back-order; however, Asian airlines are also major buyers of large aircraft.
“The Middle Eastern market will be the largest wide-body market that we see over the next 20 years. Either at par or a little bit higher than the Asian market,” Randy Tinseth, vice president, Marketing for Boeing Commercial Airplanes, told reporters in Dubai on Saturday.
Emirates, Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways, the Middle East’s largest carriers, have rapidly outgrown their European and US counterparts and in turn placed huge orders for new aircraft.
Boeing has more than 500 aircraft flying in the region with a backlog of almost 580 aircraft on order from Middle East carriers, Tinseth said.
Passenger growth
The strategy of the Gulf three connecting east and west traffic through their hubs has helped drive double digit passenger growth in the Middle East in recent years, while traditional markets in Europe and the US grow in single digits.
“There is no question that many of those wide bodies, the majority of them, are going to sixth freedom carriers. They have built very successful business models around that. Frankly, I just don’t see that changing” Tinseth said.
Sixth freedom rights is what allows airlines to transport passengers from one country through their hub and onto a third country.
