BOEING SEES BIG DEMAND IN MIDDLE EAST Wont alter Dreamliner to make a sale

Posted on 11/12/2015

Boeing Co. said Wednesday it expects airlines in the Middle East will need 3,180 airplanes over the next 20 years to service a fast-growing travel market. But the company isn’t willing to alter the design of its largest Dreamliner to land a deal with one of the region’s biggest carriers — Emirates airline.

“Traffic growth in the Middle East continues to grow at a healthy rate and is expected to grow 6.2 percent annually during the next 20 years,” Randy Tinseth, vice president of marketing for Boeing Commercial Airplanes, said in a statement.

Tinseth, whose comments precede next week’s Dubai Air Show, said about 80 percent of the world’s population lives within an eight-hour flight of the Arabian Gulf.