UK-based Raytheon Systems Ltd (RSL), which makes surveillance and radar systems for planes, expects a 25 percent rise in orders this year from the Middle East, North Africa and India as airports are built and upgraded in the region. “It is quite an important area for us,” Dennis Merryweather, marketing manager for airport traffic management systems at RSL, said. “Growth is stagnant in the United States and Europe. My chances of winning contracts in the Middle East are much higher.” RSL is currently negotiating with airports in Saudi Arabia, Merryweather said. He said an announcement could come next month. RSL is a subsidiary of US-based Raytheon Co, which recorded 2008 sales of $23.2 billion and specializes in providing technological devices for governments around the world. Of the around 500 surveillance systems RSL has at airports worldwide, 400 are in Europe and North America, 50 in China and the rest in the Middle East, North Africa and the Subcontinent, Merryweather said. A surveillance system - which helps air traffic controllers communicate with planes - costs around 1 million pounds ($1.55 million), but can cost more depending on what is needed. Merryweather said RSL already has radars and satellites in the UAE, Oman, Lebanon, Bahrain, Morocco, Jordan, India and Pakistan.
