Mideast Airports Set to Spend $86 Billion on Expansions

posted on: Dec 22, 2009

Middle East airports will spend $86bn in expansion plans up to 2025, according to the latest research by Frost & Sullivan.

The region’s aviation industry has expanded despite the pressures of the global recession and are expected to grow further, the company said on Sunday.

Announcing the launch of its latest analysis, Frost & Sullivan said a backlog of Middle Eastern orders for the A380 jets, which accounts for 50 percent of global deliveries will drive the aviation sector in the region.

“The emergence of the Middle East as a global hub in the future is attributed to the expansion of the 12 major airports across the region that constitute over 90 per cent of the total investment of $86 billion in the region,” Gautam Ratan Kanal, research analyst, said.

He said at present the region’s main airports do not have the capacity to cope with rising passenger numbers and so are having to invest heavily on expansion plans to capitalise on growth.

“The current economic slowdown will not impact the Middle East commercial aviation industry and airport development activities will persist despite the slowdown as most expansion activities are funded by governments in these countries.”

The Middle East is projected to be the only region that will witness an increase in traffic as a result of the growing demand for air travel in the region, the firm said.

Passenger and cargo traffic as well as aircraft movements across the region’s major airports is expected to grow each year until 2015 by 8.7 percent, 8.5 percent and 4.8 percent respectively.

Elsa Baxter
Arabian Business