The Middle East region will need 3,000 new jets by 2040 according to Boeing

According to Boeing, the region’s commercial jet and services market will be valued at more than $1.4 trillion in next 20 years. One third of aircraft deliveries in the region will replace older airplanes with more fuel-efficient models such as the 737 MAX, 787 Dreamliner and 777X.

The Middle East region will need 3,000 new airplanes, valued at $700 billion, over the next 20 years, according to aviation manufacturing giant Boeing. The estimate was provided in the company’s 2021 Commercial Market Outlook report.

As the airline industry continues to chart a course of recovery from the devastating economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic, Randy Heisey, Boeing managing director of Commercial Marketing for the Middle East, said it was heading in a “positive trajectory”.

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During a media briefing he revealed that the Middle East’s passenger traffic and the region’s commercial fleet are projected to more than double between now and 2040.

“The Middle East region’s role as a global connecting hub continues to be important for developing markets to and from Southeast Asia, China and Africa,” said Heisey.

More than two-thirds of airplane deliveries to the Middle East will accommodate growth, while one-third of deliveries will replace older airplanes with more fuel-efficient models such as the 737 Max, 787 Dreamliner and 777X.

Heisey said the savings in this region, as a result of the more efficient fleet, would amount to $3.5bn in fuel, almost $6bn in operating cost savings and a reduction of about 14 million tons of emissions.

He explained that, in an ordinary year, between two and three percent of the active airplane fleet is retired. However, in the Covid-impacted last 18 months that has increased to between four and five percent, similar to that witnessed following the 9/11 attacks, the SARS outbreak and the financial crash in 2008.

According to the Boeing forecast, the region will continue to see robust widebody demand, with 1,570 deliveries supporting a growing network of international routes. While the current single-aisle fleet of 660 airplanes is forecast to nearly triple to 1,750 jets.

Two of the world’s top-five cargo carriers based in the region, Emirates and Qatar Airways.

“We frequently talk about the Middle East being primarily a wide body region, but I’d like to highlight that 44 percent of today’s fleet are single aisles, and 53 percent of the deliveries in the next 20 years will be in the single aisle segment. We’re not seeing capacity constraints that would drive us to assume that there would be any a shift away from that,” said Heisey.

Meanwhile, he said air freight represents an ongoing area of opportunity for Middle East airlines, with the freighter fleet projected to nearly double from 80 airplanes in 2019 to 150 by 2040 – air cargo traffic flown by Middle East carriers has increased since 2020 by nearly 20 percent, with two of the world’s top-five cargo carriers based in the region, Emirates and Qatar Airways.

Heisey also said the region’s aftermarket services, such as maintenance and repair, will be worth $740bn by 2040. arabianbusiness.com