Airbus: Middle East requires over 1920 aircraft over next 20 years
Airbus reported (14-Nov-2011) the following highlights of its 20-year Global Market forecast for the Middle East. Airbus estimates airlines in the region will require 1921 new passenger and freighter aircraft (above 100 seats) between 2011 and 2030, valued at USD347.4 billion. Of these, 1882 are passenger aircraft (USD336.3 billion) and 39 are freighter aircraft (USD11.1billion). The main drivers of the continued strong demand for new aircraft include fleet expansion and replacement, greater urbanisation, an increasing number of mega cities and the overall ongoing expansion of the region as a geographical hub and tourist destination. The Middle East will have average passenger demand growth of 6.4% p/a, well above the world average 4.8%. The regional aircraft fleet will almost treble from over 800 aircraft today to 2260 by 2030.
Fleet breakdown:
- Narrowbody: 779 aircraft, valued at USD57.3 billion;
- Twin-engine widebody: 801 aircraft, valued at USD179.8 billion;
- Very large aircraft: 302 aircraft, valued at USD99.2 billion;
- Freighters: 13 twin-engine widebodies and 26 very large aircraft. [more - original PR]