AFP,
The world's third-largest air show took place in Dubai this week with at least 7.5 billion dollars worth of deals signed as civil and military aviation leaders competed fiercely for a slice of the region's fast-growing market.
Gas-rich Qatar stole the show on the civilian side by firming up an order with Airbus Industries for about three billion dollars in new aircraft and announcing it will soon tender construction contracts for about 2.5 billion dollars for Doha's new international airport.
“This is all part of the expansion plans of Qatar Airways, and the government of Qatar is spending a lot of money on a new state-of-the-art airport to make Doha an international hub,” Akbar al-Baker, president and chief executive of Qatar Airways, told AFP.
The aircraft deal confirms memorandums of understanding announced in Paris last June and includes two A380 superjumbos with options for two more as well as two A340-600s with options for a further eight.
The planes are scheduled to be delivered in phases between June 2006 and early 2009 in time for the launch of Qatar's new 12-million passenger-capacity airport in 2008 that it sees as a rival hub to Dubai.
Not to be outdone, Dubai's flagship airline Emirates announced Monday a three-billion-dollar firm order for 199 engines to power its fleet of 45 A380s from the US General Electric-Pratt and Whitney (GE-PW) Engine Alliance.
The airline will receive its first A380 in September 2006.
Emirates also announced with GE Aircraft deals worth about 245 million dollars for engine maintenance and the building of an advanced jet engine test facility in Dubai.
The contracts are part of Dubai's ambition to become the Gulf's leading transport and tourism hub.
The airline has announced a 26-billion-dollar program to expand its fleet and Dubai airport has embarked on a four-billion-dollar expansion project to handle annual traffic of about 30 million passengers by 2010 and more than 60 million by 2020.
The world's two main civil aircraft manufacturers, Airbus and Boeing, were in agreement on the growth potential of the Middle East air travel market but differed over how to best meet the region's needs.
On the military side, a lot of talks paving the way for future business took place behind closed doors, especially by the US delegation, which was headed by General Michael “Buzz” Moseley, vice chief of staff of the US Air Force.
“No deals are announced, but contacts are made here to lead to future business,” Paul Stefens, spokesman for missiles manufacturer Raytheon International told AFP on Thursday.
US defense giant Northrop Grumman Corp. said it was hoping to close by the end of 2003 a 350-million-dollar contract to supply five Hawkeye airborne early warning aircraft to the United Arab Emirates.
Meanwhile, Qatar announced another multi-million-dollar gas liquefying project, signed with US oil major ConocoPhillips. The Gulf state, which boasts the world's third-largest gas reserves, aims to produce an annual 60 million tons of gas by the end of 2011.
Qatar Petroleum and ConocoPhillips signed a memorandum of understanding for a 2.5-billion-dollar gas liquefying project, Energy Minister Abdullah bin Hamad al-Attiyah said.
“The state of Qatar, which constructed its first gas liquifying plant in 1996, aims for a production capacity of 60 million tons of liquified gas by the start of the next decade,” the minister said.
