Over the last five years, no other region in the world has seen air travel, as measured by revenue-passenger kilometers and cargo traffic, grow faster than the Middle East, which has experienced an average growth rate of 12 percent. Boeing forecasts the future passenger traffic growth rate of the region to be 5.2 percent through 2026. Though that doesn’t match the growth of the Asia-Pacific region’s 6.7 percent, it easily surpasses the growth rates within Europe (3.5 percent) and North America (4.7 percent), and ranks higher than the average growth rate forecast for the world (5.0 percent).
The Middle East also has an expected greater increase in gross domestic product than the worldwide average, at 4 percent versus 3 percent. One of the region’s advantages lies in its central location between Europe and Asia. “From Dubai you can fly one-stop to almost anywhere in the world,” said Randy Tinseth, vice president, marketing, Boeing Commercial Airplanes. “The airlines are purchasing more airplanes and the airport infrastructure is expanding. Within five years, airport capacity will be increased by more than three million passengers in the region.”
