Boeing: Middle East will need more single-aisle airliners

Rapid fleet expansion by airlines based in the Middle East will drive demand for 3,180 airplanes over the next 20 years, according to a Boeing forecast released Wednesday.

The Boeing Current Market Outlook said about two-thirds of those airplanes valued at $730 billion will be net additions to carriers’ fleets, and nearly half of the total – 1,410 – will be for single-aisle airliners such as Boeing’s 737 Max, the fuselage of which is manufactured by Spirit AeroSystems in Wichita.

“Traffic growth in the Middle East continues to grow at a healthy rate and is expected to grow 6.2 percent annually during the next 20 years,” Randy Tinseth, vice president of marketing for Boeing Commercial Airplanes, said in a news release. “About 80 percent of the world’s population lives within an eight-hour flight of the Arabian Gulf. This geographic position … 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.”

This story was originally published November 4, 2015 at 10:17 AM with the headline "Boeing: Middle East will need more single-aisle airliners."