Boeing Co., the world’s second- largest commercial airplane maker, boosted its 20-year market projection for world jetliner deliveries by 5.2 percent following the growing demand from Asian and Russian airlines. The planemakers will deliver almost 28,600 jets in the period, compared with the 27,200 Boeing predicted last year. The revised figure represents sales of $2.8 trillion, up from the $2.6 trillion projection last year, the company said in a statement.
At the same time, Boeing reduced its market projection for jumbo jets, saying airlines are increasingly turning to smaller, more fuel-efficient planes that will carry passengers straight to where they want to go, bypassing layovers at hubs. The company further said that there is a growing demand for regional, single-aisle and twin-aisle jets that airlines want for nonstop routes.
Boeing said in its statement that the new planes would meet an estimated 5 percent annual increase in passenger traffic and a 6.1 percent rise in yearly air cargo traffic. It further informed that about one-third of the demand for new planes will come from the Asia-Pacific region, followed by North America, which will account for about one-quarter of worldwide demand.
Boeing projects much weaker demand for jumbo jets compared to Airbus, which has invested heftily in its 555-seat A380. That plane is planned to begin its commercial service in October, after repeated delays caused by production hurdles that erased more than $6 billion off the company’s profit forecast for 2006-2010. On the other hand, Boeing lowered its market forecast for jumbo jets over the next two decades to 960 planes, down from 990 last year.
Asian carriers are expected to constitute almost 36 percent of aircraft sales as they benefit from deregulation and higher demand driven by cheaper fares, Boeing said. Whereas, North America is expected to generate around 26 percent of total sales, while 25 percent coming from Europe and Russia. Latin America, the Middle East and Africa will make up the rest 13 percent.
Boeing Chief Executive Officer James McNerney has said, ‘During the 2007 to 2026 period covered by Boeing’s forecast, the Chicago-based company and bigger rival Airbus SAS will vie for the lion’s share of the $60-billion-a-year commercial plane market. They may face a third competitor within the next 20 years, possibly from China’.
