Underlining the fact that the Gulf is the only aviation market that continues to grow in the face of the global economic crisis, Shaikh Ahmad Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, president of the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority and chairman and chief executive of the Emirates group, said yesterday that one-fourth of the world's new planes are destined for the Middle East.

As Arab airlines take advantage of the region's strategic location to build their fleets, he said Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways are among the world's fastest growing airlines and have ordered hundreds of new aircraft to be delivered over the coming years.

"Over the past few years, at the major air shows - Dubai, Paris, Farnborough - all of the big fleet announcements have come from the Gulf region," Shaikh Ahmad said in a keynote speech at the inaugural MRO Middle East Conference and Exhibition in Dubai.

The event brought together leading companies in the aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) business.

Shaikh Ahmad said Emirates at present operates 126 planes and will receive two aircraft every month this year. The Dubai carrier has 168 planes on order worth $58 billion at list prices.

Abu Dhabi's Etihad operates a fleet of 44 planes and reportedly expects to add 11 new ones this year. The company ordered 205 Boeing and Airbus planes at the Farnborough Air Show last year, worth $43 billion at list prices.

The expansion plans of Qatar Airways will see it operating a fleet of 110 aircraft by 2013, compared with 65 planes now. Its order book of 200 planes is worth more than $30 billion. New airlines in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the UAE have also placed orders for dozens of planes.

Shaikh Ahmad also noted the fact that the region has ordered 700 new executive jets. The Middle East continues to be one area of the world where orders for business jets are growing," he said.

Along with fleet expansion, governments in the region are also building bigger and better airport facilities, the Sheikh said, while stressing the need for better MRO facilities. Work is under way at airports in Abu Dhabi, Doha, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.