(Bloomberg) -- After largely sitting out last year’s flurry of aircraft orders, some of the biggest airlines in the Middle East are now preparing to replenish their fleets, with hundreds of planned purchases set to cement the region as key growth driver for Boeing Co. and Airbus SE.
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Among the carriers set to add planes is Flydubai, which is looking to purchase at least 200 narrowbody jets plus 100 options, according to people familiar with the negotiations. Neighboring Etihad Airways is meanwhile in talks for as many as 40 widebody aircraft, said the people who asked not to be identified discussing confidential deliberations.
Joining the fray is Qatar Airways, which is closing in an order for about 230 twin-aisle aircraft in coming months, while Gulf Air, the national carrier of Bahrain, is in talks for about a dozen widebody jets, the people said.
Add to that the 50 long-range planes that Riyadh Air is looking to buy, and the duopoly made up of Airbus and Boeing stands to pull in at least 500 orders from the region this year. Such a haul would solidify the Middle East as a major source of business for the two planemakers, as carriers expand and renew their fleets and locations like Dubai morph from transfer hubs into tourism destinations in their own right.
While North America is still the largest profit contributor to the global aviation industry, the Middle East has enjoyed the strongest financial performance. It was also the only region last year where passenger yields jumped, thanks to strong demand for premium long-haul travel.
Some of the biggest deals in recent years came from India and Turkey, which are seeking a larger slice of the global transfer market and — in the case of India — are catering to a more affluent middle class seeking to travel in the country and abroad.
Given the near-record demand for new jets, airlines are clamoring to lock in delivery slots now stretching into the next decade for both single-aisle and twin-aisle aircraft. Airbus and Boeing have also struggled to ramp up production, partly because of still-constrained supply chain and engine maintenance issues.
Boeing deferred to customers, while Airbus, Etihad and Qatar Airways declined to comment. Gulf Air didn’t reply to a request for comment.
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“We are in constant discussions with the aircraft manufacturers regarding future aircraft orders to support flydubai’s growth trajectory,” Flydubai Chief Executive Officer Ghaith Al Ghaith said in response to a request for comment. “We are currently assessing our requirement for narrow-body aircraft and any decision will be announced once it is finalized,” he said.
Some carriers, including Flydubai, have had to cancel flights and readjust their route plans after Boeing and Airbus failed to deliver their jets on time.
Flydubai is evaluating the Boeing 737 and the Airbus A320 family, and while the airline operates an all-Boeing fleet for now, significant delays and cancellations with the US planemaker are prompting a rethink of that exclusive arrangement, Al Ghaith told Bloomberg at the Farnborough Air Show last year.
Etihad, which is planning an initial public offering, has about a 100 narrowbody and widebody jets and is considering the Boeing 777X and 787 and the Airbus A350 as part of a five-year plan to double its fleet. Qatar Airways, meanwhile, is looking at widebody models offered by the planemakers and could place an order as soon as April, the people said.
Newcomer Riyadh Air has around 100 jets on order and is considering firming up 33 options for Boeing’s 787 Dreamliners, said one of the people. The carrier, owned by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, is looking to get as many as 50 Airbus A350-1000 or Boeing 777X, Bloomberg previously reported. The airline didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment.
Gulf Air flies about 40 aircraft and is considering around 10 Boeing 787s to add to its fleet as it looks to grow and turn a profit under new management. The 787 Dreamliner is the only twin-aisle jet the carrier operates, and troubles with the Rolls-Royce Holdings Plc engine are likely to prompt a switch to General Electric Co. on any new purchases, said the people.
Emirates, the biggest airline in the region and the operator of the world’s largest longhaul fleet, hasn’t said if it needs more planes. The company has more than 200 Boeing 777X planes on order, but the aircraft is years behind schedule as certification for the new jet lags. Bloomberg reported this month that the Dubai flag carrier now expects its 777X deliveries to be pushed back until at least the second quarter of 2027.
The carrier bought a small batch of Airbus A350-900 planes at the Dubai Air Show in 2023 and hasn’t announced any purchases since. Many airlines seek to couple their order announcements with major aviation events, such as the alternating Farnborough and Paris air shows, or the biennial Dubai expo, which occurs again this year in November.
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