Boeing 'will be in Middle East for next 100 years' says senior executive

"Saudi Arabia is a very important market" said Marc Allen, President of Boeing

2 min read

14 November, 2017

Boeing will operate in the Middle East regardless of how bad the situation gets [Getty]

US airline company Boeing is planning to operate in the Middle East for the next 100 years, its senior executive said.

Marc Allen, President of Boeing International said in an interview that the airline manufacturer would continue to operate in the Middle Eastern region despite growing instability and threats of escalation of conflict.

He cited Saudi Arabia, which is currently besieging Qatar and spearheading a military in coalition in Yemen as an important customer.

"Saudi Arabia is a very important market. We've been in Saudi Arabia for 70 years and we fully expect to be there for the next 100 years," Allen told US based media outlet CNBC.

He said Boeing has been through “every cycle imaginable”, selling military and commercial aircrafts to Middle Eastern regimes despite instability and political turbulence within the region.

"So the way that we approach the market as we do in most places is around partnership and it's about creating a deeply interwoven fabric of our capabilities and the customers' needs and then helping the customer grow in their capability so we're growing together", Allen said.

"So that's the model, that's what we've been doing and it's been working well. And we think it will be a very important part of the business going forward", he added.

Emirates Airlines on Sunday agreed to purchase 40 Boeing 787-10 Dreamliners for $15.1 billion at list price on Sunday, according to its chief Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed al-Maktoum.

Emirates is already the world's largest client for Boeing's 777, with 165 jets and another 164 on firm order.

Sheikh Ahmed said the deal raises total outstanding orders from US aerospace giant Boeing, the global competitor of Europe's Airbus Industries, to as high as $90 billion.

Delivery of the Dreamliners is scheduled to start in 2022, he said on the first day of the Dubai Airshow.

Emirates, the largest carrier in the Middle East, is also the world's biggest client for Airbus 380 superjumbo jets with 100 planes. It has firm orders for another 46 jets.