The US’ Boeing expects that Middle East airlines will need 2,520 aircraft by 2030, valued at $450bn.

Airlines in the Middle East will then have a combined fleet of 2,710 aircraft, compared to the 1,040 planes it currently has.

As part of Boeing’s 20-year market forecast, Randy Tinseth, vice president of marketing, commercial airplanes at Boeing, says passenger traffic in the region is expected to grow 6.6 per cent in the same time. A total of 37,000 new pilots will be needed in the region to fly the expected increase in aircraft.

“The collective capacity of the Gulf Three- Emirates Airline, Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways has grown by an average of 23 per cent annually over the past decade and we expect this growth to continue,” says Tinseth.

Boeing currently has a backlog of 300 planes in the Middle East region.

Worldwide, airlines will need 33,500 aircraft over the next 20 years, valued at a total of $4 trillion. International passenger traffic is expected to increase over four per cent in the same time.

Boeing is also working on the 737 max which has three different models. The first of these is due to be delivered in 2017.