The Middle East will require 3,180 new aircraft worth an estimated $730 billion over the next 20 years, with single-aisles driving the growth, according to the Boeing Current Market Outlook.
Boeing says about 1,410 of these aircraft will be single-aisle, such as the Boeing 737 MAX. The manufacturer says they will replace older, less efficient aircraft. About half the growth will come from twin-aisle aircraft including the Boeing 777 and 787 while Boeing says its aftermarket presence will increase in the Middle East. Boeing tells Air Cargo Week it does not break the figures down to include demand for the number of cargo aircraft.
Boeing Commercial Airplanes vice president for marketing, Randy Tinseth says: “Traffic growth in the Middle East continues to grow at a healthy rate and is expected to grow 6.2 per cent annually during the next 20 years.”
He says the Middle East is expected to put its favourable geographic position to its advantage for continued growth. Tinseth continues: “This geographic position, coupled with diverse business strategies and investment in infrastructure is allowing carriers in the Middle East to aggregate traffic at their hubs and offer one-stop service between many city pairs that would not otherwise enjoy such direct itineraries.”
Boeing also predicts demand for 38,050 new aircraft worldwide over the next 20 years, valued at $5.6 trillion. It predicts about 40 per cent of this demand will be from Asia Pacific, 20 per cent each to Europe and North America and the rest split between the Middle East, Latin America, the Commonwealth of Independent States and Africa.
