DUBAI (Zawya Dow Jones)--The Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey, a tiltrotor military transport aircraft, is likely to get its first international customer from the Middle East, where its debut at the Dubai Airshow received interest from United Arab Emirates royals, program executives said Sunday. "The first international customer will come from the Middle East," said John Garrison, president and chief executive of Bell Helicopter, which runs the program in an alliance with Boeing Co (BA). "While I can't share names, we continue to work closely with countries in the region," Garrison said as part of a presentation at the show. Jean Chamberlin, vice president and general manager of Boeing Mobility, said some U.A.E. sheiks at the Dubai show "found it quite interesting." A third executive, the V-22 Joint Program Manager Col. Greg Masiello, said: "Our confidence level is quite high for international customers beyond the U.S. to be flying the V22." -By Nour Malas, Dow Jones Newswires, +97150 2890223; nour.malas@dowjones.com Copyright (c) 2011 Dow Jones & Co.
