US giant Boeing said on Saturday it was hoping to bag orders for up to 150 new aircraft from the Middle East region by the end of 2007. "We will try to finish the year with 150 (aircraft) orders from the region," Boeing's Middle East chief of commercial airplane sales Lee Monson told reporters here on the eve of the Dubai Air Show.
Monson refrained from disclosing details of orders or clients saying that the five-day exhibition - the world's third largest air show - will see major announcements. He said an announcement for one big order for the Boeing 787 Dreamliner will take place during the week, without giving further details. Only a single order for 22 aircraft placed by Kuwait's leasing company ALAFCO appears on Boeing's order book from the region for 2007.