Boeing Company has projected that China will be in the market for around 3,710 new airplanes (worth about $390 billion) over the next 20 years. Boeing made the prediction when detailing its 2008 Current Market Outlook (CMO) for the China region.
"China will continue to be the fastest-growing aviation center in the world, requiring 41 percent of the entire Asia-Pacific region airplane demand," said Randy Tinseth, Boeing Commercial Airplanes vice president of marketing. "This makes China the largest market outside of the U.S. for new commercial airplanes."
Boeing also forecasts that China's air travel and air cargo market growth will cause the country's fleet to more than triple to 4,560 airplanes by 2027, which is about as many airplanes there are currently in Europe. Single-aisle airplanes will account for 70 percent of the new purchases, driven by the world's fast-growing domestic market. The demand will also include a limited number of large airplanes to connect China with major international destinations.
Worldwide, Boeing projects investments of $3.2 trillion for 29,400 new commercial airplanes to be delivered during the next 20 years. The complete forecast is available on the Boeing Web site at www.boeing.com/commercial/cmo/index.html.