25,000 new planes needed by 2029

Peter Woodman,Pa
Tuesday 28 December 2010 10:29 GMT
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Around 25,000 new passenger planes will be needed over the next 20 years, aircraft company Airbus has forecast.

These planes will have a value of around £1,880 billion, with 10,000 of the new planes replacing older and "less-green" aircraft.

The other 15,000 will be to accommodate passenger growth, said Airbus whose planes' wings are built in the UK.

Demand for ultra-large aircraft such as the Airbus A380 superjumbo is expected to account for 7% of the total number of new planes over the next 20 years.

Around 24% of the new aircraft will be twin-aisle planes, with 69% being single-aisle aircraft.

The world's passenger fleet amounts to more than 14,000 planes at the moment and this figure is expected to rise to 29,000 by 2029.

Airbus said the demand for new planes was being driven by replacement of aircraft for newer, more eco-efficient models in mature markets; dynamic growth in new emerging markets; low-cost carriers particularly in Asia; further market liberalisation and capacity growth on existing routes.

The company's forecast is 900 planes higher than its long-term prediction made at the end of 2009.

Airbus customer chief operating officer John Leahy said: "The recovery is stronger than predicted and reinforces both the resilience of the sector to downturns and that people want and need to fly."

Chris Emerson, Airbus's head of product strategy and market forecast, said: "Airlines in Asia Pacific including China and India will carry one third of the passenger traffic by 2029, making it the largest region, overtaking the USA (23%) and Europe (23%)."

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