Airbus forecasts global plane fleet to double in the next 20 years

Wed, Sep 18, 2019
By publisher
2 MIN READ

Aviation

THE world’s commercial passenger and freight plane fleet will more than double in the coming two decades, European aircraft maker, Airbus predicted on Wednesday, citing the stable annual growth in air traffic.

Christian Scherer, Airbus Chief Commercial Officer and Head of Airbus International, disclosed this in London.

Airbus estimated that the global fleet would increase from the current total of about 23,000 planes to 47,680 planes in 2038.

“The four per cent annual growth in air traffic reflects the resilient nature of aviation, weathering short term economic shocks and geopolitical disturbances,’’ said Scherer.

Of the almost 48,000 planes projected in 2038, Airbus’ forecast presented in London said 39,210 would be new and 8,470 would remain from today’s fleet.

This was an addition of about 1,800 planes compared to last year’s projection.

Airbus expected the main growth to be in the so-called medium segment that features models like its A330neo and U.S. rival Boeing’s 737 MAX series.

The Boeing 737 MAX series was grounded in March after two crashes involving the MAX 8 variants, one in March in Ethiopia that killed 157 people and another in Indonesia in October that killed 189 people.

Airbus announced in February that it would halt production of the A380 superjumbo jet. (dpa/NAN)

– Sept. 18, 2019 @ 15:05 GMT |

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