DOHA (Zawya Dow Jones)--U.S. planemaker Boeing (BA) called on
cash-rich Middle East investors Wednesday to plug a potential
financing shortfall of its aircraft as European banks reel from the
region's sovereign debt crisis.
"The current European sovereign debt crisis, and its expected
impacts on European banks, gives new impetus to aircraft investment
opportunities for Middle East investors," Boeing said in a
statement.
European banks have long been investors in aircraft but Boeing
is now worried about an "expected pullback" from these lenders, it
added, as fears mount about their exposure to indebted countries in
the euro zone.
This comes a day after Dubai-based Emirates Airline's president
Tim Clark told Dow Jones that some French banks that have long
helped fund its huge aircraft investment program are showing signs
of retreating in the face of the region's sovereign debt
crisis.
Recent speculation surrounding liquidity of French banks,
including BNP Paribas SA and Societe Generale SA--both big players
in aircraft finance--has raised questions over their near-term role
in the sector.
Many Gulf-based lenders on the other hand are flush with cash
after years of rising oil prices. Emirates and government-funded
Qatar Airways are two of the fastest growing airlines in the
world.
-By Alex Delmar-Morgan, Dow Jones Newswires; +974 6659
9818;alex.delmar-morgan@dowjones.com
(Doug Cameron contributed to this story.)
Copyright (c) 2011 Dow Jones & Co.