Airbus believes the Middle East region will not be giving up its penchant for widebody aircraft, despite the increasing encroachment of narrowbodies on long-haul route networks.
The airframer’s 20-year forecast for the region predicts deliveries of more than 4,000 new aircraft by 2044.
“This is a regional that loves their widebody aircraft,” said Grainne van den Berg, Airbus’s head of marketing for Africa and the Middle East during an event at the Dubai air show.
She says the Middle East is a “unique story” regarding widebody demand, owing to the presence of “large global connectors” and high-demand routes.
Airbus’s president of Africa and Middle East, Gabriel Semelas, highlights Emirates’ previous use of an A380 for its Dubai-Kuwait service – a flight of just 1h 45min – although the carrier has recently switch to using an A350-900.
“You wouldn’t see that in many places around the world,” he states.
Airbus foresees 42% of the 20-year deliveries to the Middle East comprising widebody aircraft.
This figure, van den Berg says, is despite the development of long-range narrowbodies including the A321LR and A321XLR.
Such aircraft are serving a complementary rather than a replacement role, she states, enabling widebody operators to open new services.
Etihad Airways has started introducing A321LRs this year, promoting the type as offering “widebody comfort on a single-aisle aircraft”.
Van den Berg says the forecast indicates the region’s fleet will increase from 1,480 aircraft at the end of 2024 to 3,700 in two decades’ time.
“The region is enabling that growth we’re predicting,” she says, through diversification of economies, increased infrastructure investment, and connectivity.
Airbus expects several Middle East links to feature in the 20 busiest traffic flows by 2044, including those from Western Europe and the Indian subcontinent.
