Boeing sees MidEast investors playing role

Investors in the Middle East are expected to play a bigger role in aircraft investment opportunities amid the current European sovereign debt crisis, Boeing officials have said. Executives from Boeing Capital Corporation, the manufacturer's product financing arm, said they expected to see more Middle East inflows amid what is expected to be a longer-term challenge for European banking institutions. Europe's banks have been a significant source of global aircraft financing for more than a decade. John Matthews, the unit's managing director for the region, said: "Middle East economies are generating significant account surpluses, which eventually will translate into the need for diversified investment portfolios. "As many Middle East investors have already recognized, aircraft offer a very stable, long-term and predictable investment profile, presenting generous profit opportunities for investors willing to take advantage of them." The International Air Transport Association (IATA) last week raised its 2011 forecast for global airline profits by 73 percent, citing stronger than expected demand in Europe and the Middle East. The transport agency said regional carriers will be among the biggest beneficiaries, with a forecast profit of $800m this year. This compares to a June forecast of $100m, the IATA said in a statement. Boeing said although Middle East banks and lessors have financed primarily air carriers based in the region, it expects the region's investors to become "a key emerging source of aircraft financing among global investors". "Recently we've seen significant interest in developing products in order to finance aircraft using Shariah-compliant capital markets investments and we see this trend continuing," said Matthews. Reporting on the region's air travel market health, the Boeing executives said the Middle East continues to show very strong growth, with international carriers growing during 2010 at a rate of nearly 18 percent, more than double the world average. Boeing's latest long-term market outlook released in June projected a  $4 trillion market for new aircraft over the next 20 years, with a significant increase in aircraft demand over that time. Of those, the Middle East is expected to require 2,520 aircraft, worth about $450 billion.