Boeing sees record attendance at fifth regional financiers' conference

It marked the fifth year for the week-long event that this year attracted nearly 40 executives from the Middle East, Africa and Europe. Led by experts from Boeing Capital Corporation, the company's financing unit, the conference provided participants with a detailed overview of the underlying dynamics and key decision drivers of the current global airline marketplace.

This year's landmark Boeing conference comes amid improving global conditions for aircraft financing and growing interest among regional financiers in aircraft investment as a result in part of the continuing healthy airline travel markets in areas like the Middle East and China.

"In general, the view remains that the markets have turned, and the Middle East seems to be recovering faster than the rest of the world, with the exception of Asia. Passenger traffic in the region never shrank and now it's coming back quite well," said John Matthews, Boeing Capital managing director for Middle East, Africa and India.

The conference featured presentations by Boeing Commercial Airplanes executives on the industry's current market outlook, airplane performance and economics and other issues. It combined formal presentations with interactive discussions to allow a fast pace of learning and information sharing.

"Our airline planning conferences, the annual financier and investors conference and smaller events like our financier roundtables are helping to generate more interest in aircraft financing in the region," said Matthews. "Some of the signs that point to this include the recently announced ACG-CAIF joint venture in Egypt and the NBAD/DVB joint venture in Abu Dhabi."

As areas like the Middle East become more active in aircraft financing both regionally and internationally, Boeing is pleased by the increasing number of financing professionals that have benefited from its program.

"We are seeing people that we have worked with over the years taking their knowledge with them and sharing it with others as they move to other institutions, and that is very encouraging," Matthews said.

Matthews said that Boeing is distinguished among aircraft manufacturers by its continuing investment in support of the region's emergence as an aircraft financing center. Recently, Boeing held its first financier roundtable event in Qatar, co-sponsored by the Qatar First Investment Bank, attracting a larger than expected audience.

For the first time this year, Boeing was joined in the presentation by representatives from an airline customer, Turkey's THY, who offered the carrier's perspective on the aircraft financing and valuations process.

The company has offered a similar event at its headquarters in Seattle, Wash. for two decades. It began offering the regional version in 2005 to make it easier and less costly for financiers in other parts of the world to attend.