DUBAI, Nov 12: The oil-rich Gulf states are quenching their thirst for airplanes with huge orders at the Dubai air show, confident that passenger traffic in the region is on the rise.

Rival manufacturing giants Airbus and Boeing both clinched mega-contracts on Sunday and Monday, the opening days of the five-day show, and have high expectations for the future.

“If they don’t place their orders now, they won’t get the delivery early enough to meet their needs,” Airbus sales chief John Leahy told reporters to explain the Gulf appetite for aircraft.

According to Airbus’s US rival Boeing, the Middle East is expected to spend $190 billion to buy 1,160 planes over the next 19 years.

During that same period, passenger traffic in the region will grow annually by 5.7 per cent, while freight is due to rise by 7.1 per cent, according to Boeing estimates.

These figures are way above the average world estimates for passenger and freight traffic.

During the first half of this year, passenger traffic in the Middle East recorded an impressive 18.7 per cent increase — the highest worldwide —, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

Thanks to multi-billion-dollar earnings from soaring oil prices, Gulf monarchies have invested heavily in tourism and air transport over the past decade to diversify revenues and prepare for the post-oil era.

Many of the airlines that have risen from the desert sands in the past 10 years are linked to the region’s wealthy ruling families, and their growth has been dizzying. Dubai’s flagship carrier, Emirates, owned by the emirate’s government carried 17.5 million passengers during the 2006-2007 fiscal year that ended in September.

On Sunday, Emirates made history for Airbus when it signed a mega-deal to buy $20.2 billion worth of planes, including 70 midsized A350 XWB (Extra Wide Body) aircraft and 11 A380s. Airbus executives called it the biggest single order in the European planemaker’s history.

In its quest to expand its fleet, Emirates also shopped at the Boeing pavillion in Dubai, on Sunday buying 12 long-haul 777-300s worth $3.2 billion.—AFP