Aviation industry to soar

An expected rise in travel demand in the Asia-Pacific region, led by China, will fuel rapid growth in the area’s aviation sector over the next two decades, according to a report released yesterday by U.S.-based aerospace giant Boeing.

“Currently, one-third of global aviation traffic passes through the Asia-Pacific region,” Randy Tinseth, vice president of the marketing department at Boeing Commercial Airplanes, said in a report looking at the market over the next 20 years.

“But with the rapidly growing market, by 2029, 43 percent of all planes taking off and landing will be in this area.”

Airlines based in the Asia-Pacific region account for more than 40 percent of the demand for Boeing’s two-aisle airplanes and could take up a greater share going forward, the company said.

Meanwhile, the Middle East is becoming a growing aviation hub as well, while the North American and European markets could also expand as airlines look to replace older planes and bolster their fleets with new fuel-efficient models, the report said.

Boeing has been releasing global market outlook reports for the past 46 years.

In its latest report, Boeing forecast that a recovering economy and increasing demand for new aircraft will push the commercial airplane market to the $3.6 trillion mark in 20 years. Additionally, it believes that 30,900 new passenger and cargo airplanes will be ordered between now and 2029.

“The global market has improved this year significantly compared with last year,” Tinseth said. “However, the industry is going through difficult times mainly due to the fluctuating price of oil.”

Still, the company believes that stable growth in the world economy this year will help create a beneficial environment for the aviation industry, leading to higher profits for airlines.

The report also noted that there is growing demand for single-aisle airplanes, which is tied in particular to the increasing number of budget carriers, the rise in air travel in emerging countries like India, China and Southeast Asia, and fluctuating oil prices.

By Lee Eun-joo [angie@joongang.co.kr]