Middle Eastern airlines ordered aircraft worth $24 billion (£12 billion) yesterday, signalling a shift in the purchasing power of carriers towards the east and the population centres of Asia.

Further evidence of the growth in the region’s aviation industry came as the Government of Abu Dhabi and Boeing signed a memorandum of understanding to build a research and development facility in the emirate.

Government officials said that this was the first move towards the country building its own jets and eventually competing with the established manufacturers of Europe and North America.

Orders from Middle Eastern airlines dominated the first day of the Paris Air Show at the Le Bourget aerodrome, when an estimated $46 billion of total new orders were agreed.

The largest single order was from Qatar Airways, which is only 14 years old, for 80 new Airbus A350XWBs in a deal worth $16.4 billion at list prices. The order had been previously agreed but was formally signed yesterday. It will be worth an additional $5.4 billion to Rolls-Royce, the Derby-based engine maker. Rolls is the sole supplier of engines to the A350 and the Qatar deal is the largest single engine order placed.

Sir John Rose, chief executive of Rolls-Royce, said: “This is an extremely significant order from one of the world’s most forward-looking airlines.”

Emirates, the airline based in Dubai, surprised aviation analysts with an order for eight more A380 superjumbos, taking its fleet of the 550-seat aircraft to 55. This is about a third of all orders so far received for the A380. The $2.4 billion deal will give Emirates enormous capacity and allow it to operate A380s from Dubai to Heathrow and New York in one direction and Sydney and Shanghai in the other.

Middle Eastern airlines are growing rapidly because the governments of the region are using their oil wealth to buy new aircraft and develop an aerospace industry.

The region is also well placed to act as hub between Europe, Africa, Asia and Australasia. Air travel is expected to grow at between 6 and 8 per cent a year for the next two decades in the Middle East and Asia as flights become cheaper and more people have incomes that allow them to travel.

Waleed al-Mokarrab al-Muhairi, chief operating officer of Mubadala, the Abu Dhabi-owned investment vehicle, said: “We are looking to diversify our economies. We are good at hydrocarbons but we need to think about what comes next. Aerospace creates the type of jobs we need because we have a small population and they are highly skilled jobs.”

Mubadala and its partners in the neighbouring emirate of Dubai have already bought SR Technics, the aircraft maintenance company. Mubadala plans to build a research and development facility with Boeing and a manufacturing capability eventually.

Mr al-Muhairi added: “We have to walk before we can run and it is a huge leap to building airframes but perhaps we can achieve this in half a generation.”

Other orders from companies in the Middle East came from Alafco, the Kuwait-based aircraft leasing company, which bought 12 A350s and seven A320s in a deal worth about $3 billion.

On the runway

DAY ONE

Airbus

Jazeera Airways: 30 A320s Alafco: 12 A350s and 7 A320s Emirates: 8 A380s Qatar Airways: 80 A350s Nouvelair (Tunisia): 2 A320s GE Commercial Aviation: 60 A320s US Airways: 22 A350s, 10 A330s, 60 A320s. Air France: 2 A380s, 18 A320 S7 (Russia): 25 A320s

Boeing

Lion Air (Indonesia): 40 737s GE Commerical Aviation: 6 777s

Estimated total :$46 billion

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