Boeing forecast on July 9 a global marketplace for new aircraft worth $3.2 trillion over the next two decades, with China overtaking North America by 2027. The world's airlines and freight companies will need about 29,400 new aircraft over the next 20 years, including orders made since the start of 2008, Boeing said in its Current Market Outlook for 2008.
The company had forecast last year that the global market would be worth $2.8 trillion up to 2026, with new orders totalling 28,600 aircraft.
"The Chinese market today is very small but 20 years from now it will be bigger than today's North American market," said Randy Tinseth, vice president of marketing.
Boeing's latest forecasts are based on global economic growth of 3.2% annually throughout the forecast period, with passenger traffic rising 5% and cargo 5.8% per year.
"We're seeing an increasing share of airplane deliveries to the Asia Pacific region, as well as the Middle East, Latin America and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS, formerly the Soviet Union)," he noted.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2008
