One-fourth of new passenger jets destined for the Middle East

Dubai: One-fourth of the world's new planes are destined for the Middle East as Arab airlines take advantage of the region's strategic location to build their fleets, Shaikh Ahmad Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of Dubai Civil Aviation Authority and Chairman and Chief Executive of Emirates Group, said yesterday.

Emirates, Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways are among the world's fastest growing airlines and have ordered hundreds of new aircraft to be delivered over several years.

"Over the past few years, at the major air shows - Dubai, Paris, Farnborough - all of the big fleet announcements have come from the Gulf region," Shaikh Ahmad said yesterday in a keynote speech at the inaugural MRO Middle East Conference and Exhibition in Dubai. The event brought together leading companies in what is known in aviation parlance as the maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) business.

"Twenty-five per cent of the world's new passenger jets are destined for a place in this region," Shaikh Ahmad said.

Emirates at present operates 126 planes and will receive two aircraft every month this year, he said. The Dubai carrier has 168 planes on order worth $58 billion (Dh213 billion) at list prices.

Abu Dhabi's Etihad operates a fleet of 44 planes and expects to add 11 new jets this year, a spokesman told Gulf News.

The company ordered 205 Boeing and Airbus planes at the Farnborough Air Show last year worth $43 billion at list prices. The expansion plan of Qatar Airways will see it operating a fleet of 110 aircraft by 2013 compared with 65 planes now. Its order book of 200 planes is worth more than $30 billion. New airlines in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the UAE have also placed orders for dozens of planes.

"But it gets even better," Shaikh Ahmad said as he highlighted the region's importance in the global aviation growth. He said the region has also ordered 700 new executive jets.

"The Middle East continues to be one area of the world where orders for business jets are growing," he said.

Shaikh Ahmad said more MRO facilities are needed in the region as there is a time lag in getting the support aircraft owners and operators need, with many of the region's business jets travelling to Europe for even routine repairs.

"In government, we have been doing all what we can to help. With the building of Dubai World Central, we have a world-class airport with the space and commitment to allow third parties the opportunity to provide services, to bring parts, to launch repair shops and generally provide aircraft-on-ground support as well as developing the heavier maintenance facilities," he said.

Along with fleet expansions, governments in the region are also building bigger and better airport facilities. Work is underway at airports in Abu Dhabi, Doha, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.