The US plane maker Boeing will not be able to compete on a “level playing field” with European rival Airbus if American politicians do not revive the US Export-Import Bank (ExIm), a top official said yesterday.
ExIm financed $27 billion worth of US exports last year, and Boeing was the largest beneficiary with loans and guarantees of $7bn.
“Without it [ExIm] we are not at level playing field with our competition. We have one bank in the US, [while the] Europeans have three,” said Randy Tinseth, vice president of marketing at Boeing Commercial Airplanes.
Blocking the bank would represent a major blow to the Seattle-based aircraft manufacturer and a boon for Airbus.
“It is a challenge to us and our customers. They also like an array of channels to finance their aircraft. They like a balance in their portfolio,” Mr Tinseth said.
Late last month, the US House of Representatives voted to revive the ExIm bank, after the bank closed for new business on July 1 when conservatives voted not to renew its charter.
The move not to reauthorise the 81-year-old institution led to protests from companies such as Boeing and General Electric, which benefit from the bank’s funding.
Asked about the effect on their international sales if ExIm is permanently shut down, Mr Tinseth said: “I’m not going to speculate, but it is important to us today. All we can do is to make our case.”
Boeing yesterday also forecast that airlines in the Middle East will need 3,180 aircraft over the next 20 years, with an estimated value of $730bn.
UAE airlines are major customers of Boeing. Emirates Airline is the largest operator of the company’s 777 aircraft. At the 2013 Dubai Airshow, the Dubai carrier placed a $76bn order for 150 of the 777X aircraft due to come into service in 2020.
Separately, Mr Tinseth said that other than the Gulf’s big three carriers, the Egyptian market is the one to watch “very carefully and closely”.
He said: “It is a big market in terms of population, growing economy. It is starting to stabilise again.”
Last week, Egypt Air’s chief executive said that the airline would take a call on whether to buy or lease new planes next year.
selgazzar@thenational.ae
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