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Business & Finance Club - Transportation - Dubai: The Middle East's carriers will require 1,710 aircraft to meet the growing demand in the next 20 years, valued at Dh1.1 trillion ($300 billion), according to the Boeing Company's latest projections.

This will include 850 twin-aisle aircraft, 680 single-aisle, 130 superjumbo, and 50 regional jets.

Middle East carriers riding the wave of growing air traffic have a backlog of 789 aircraft currently and will see seat numbers grow 11 per cent annually, Boeing said. In 20 years, Dubai will become the world's fourth biggest aviation hub, the company said.

Regional growth is driven mainly by six carriers such as Emirates, Etihad Airways, Qatar Airways and Gulf Air, that have heavy orders placed with Boeing and Airbus.

Meanwhile, increasing their slice of the regional pie are the low-cost carriers, led by Sharjah-based Air Arabia. The first budget carrier in the region, it currently has 45 aircraft on order with 19 already in service. Newly launched flydubai also has an order of 45 aircraft with seven in service. Presenting growing competition are Kuwait-based Jazeera Airways with 29 planes on order and Saudi-Nas Air with an additional 29.

Last year, the manufacturer delivered 481 aircraft and another 108 in the first three months of this year. It delivered 36 of the 481 to regional carriers. Its backlog stands at 866 orders from 56 customers, after seeing about 18 cancellations worldwide. However, the Middle East customers have asked the manufacturer to speed deliveries.

No cancellations

"This has not been a market where we've seen a lot of deferrals or cancellations," Randy Tinseth, vice-president of marketing, Boeing Commercial said.

Despite a drop in demand in some international markets, Boeing expects to deliver another 460 to 465 aircraft this year, down 4.3 to 3.3 per cent. Boeing's much awaited Dreamliner 787-8, currently undergoing flight tests, will see its first delivery by the end of this year.

With 35 of the aircraft on order, Etihad Airways said it would take the first delivery in 2013. Additionally, Qatar Airways has 30 on order.

Boeing's largest aircraft, the 747-8 and the closest competitor to the Airbus A380, will also enter service by the end of this year.

Tinseth said that the company would not make a plane to directly compete with Airbus' super jumbo A350 that can carry up to 567 passengers, since the market is limited to a handful of airlines.