Global air transport market forecast shows sector is 'back on track'

RP news wires

The airline industry has bounced back from the global economic slowdown, with its faster-than-anticipated recovery driven in part by dynamic growth in new emerging markets, increased freight traffic and the need for eco-efficient replacement aircraft in mature sectors.

These are among the findings of Airbus’ Global Market Forecast (GMF) for the 20-year period of 2010-2029, which was unveiled December 13 at a press conference in Toulouse, France.

During the next two decades, Airbus projects that almost 26,000 new passenger jetliners and freighters will be needed to meet the rising demand for flight services – representing a market value of US$3.2 trillion, and an increase over the company’s previous forecast by 900 aircraft.

Leading the charge are emerging economies such as India, whose passenger traffic growth of 9.2 per cent is the fastest of any major market. Overall, the greatest demand for new passenger aircraft and freighters will be from the Asia-Pacific region – which is to carry one-third of all passenger traffic by 2029, overtaking the United States and Europe for the top spot globally.

Across all segments, Airbus foresees a continued trend towards new-generation and efficient aircraft – with these jetliners and freighters enabling operators to increase the number of passengers while reducing overall costs.

Airbus is anticipating this need with its family of modern aircraft, which includes the world’s largest jetliner – the A380 – and the next-generation A350 XWB widebody. For the single-aisle marketplace, Airbus is offering its A320neo – a fuel-efficient engine option for Airbus’ best-selling A319, A320 and A321 – which allows customers to choose between CFM International’s LEAP-X and the PurePower PW1100G from Pratt & Whitney.

With cargo traffic recovering at a higher rate than passenger traffic, Airbus is projecting a demand for approximately 2,980 freighters from 2010-2029 – to be accommodated by 870 new production aircraft (at a total value of US$211 billion) and some 2,110 to be converted from passenger jetliners.

Airbus will help address this need with its new A330-200F, which is a highly-efficient, reliable and profitable cargo aircraft based on the popular A330 passenger jetliner. The no. 1 A330-200F joined the fleet of Etihad Airways earlier this year, and a total of five A330-200Fs had been delivered by Airbus to international customers as of November 30.

For additional highlights of the 2010-2029 Global Market Forecast, visit Airbus’ video gallery.

See the full Airbus Global Market Forecast for 2010-2029.

Subscribe to Machinery Lubrication

About the Author