Long considered a hotbed of widebody sales, the Middle East in more recent years has also become a prime target of opportunity for narrowbodies, as the likes of FlyDubai, Air Arabia and Jazeera Airways rank as some of the world’s fastest growing low-fare carriers. Over the past decade Airbus and Boeing each have enjoyed the fruits of what has proved to become another lucrative market for single-aisle jets. Now, as they prepare to introduce “re-engined” narrowbodies in the form of the A320neo and 737 Max and Canada’s Bombardier, Russia’s Irkut and China’s Comac ready their own market entrants, airlines around the world stand to soon reap further economic benefits from new technology promising co-called “double digit” fuel-burn improvements and seat-mile cost reductions.
The first of the new models due to enter the market–the Airbus A320neo–remains on schedule for certification and first delivery to Qatar Airways by the end of the year, after the company had to distribute certification work among its flight-test articles to recoup time lost due to a defect in one of the first prototype’s two Pratt & Whitney PW1100G-JM geared-turbofan (GTF) engines.
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