Boeing Predicts Doubling of China’s Commercial Air Fleet in Two Decades
China’s commercial airplane fleet is poised to more than double in size over the next 20 years, driven by robust economic growth and increasing demand for air travel, according to Boeing’s latest market forecast released in Beijing on Tuesday.
Boeing’s 2024 Commercial Market Outlook (CMO) for China anticipates a 4.1 percent annual growth in the country’s commercial airplane fleet. The fleet is expected to expand from the current approximately 4,300 aircraft to around 9,700 by 2043.
“It’s important to look at how China’s economy has recovered from the pandemic and remains very healthy,” said Darren Hulst, vice president of commercial marketing at Boeing. “The economy continues to grow, private consumption continues to grow, and ultimately industrial production is also on a growth trajectory. All are important drivers of demand for both passenger and cargo traffic.”
In the first half of this year, China’s civil aviation industry witnessed a total of 350 million passenger trips, marking a year-on-year increase of 23.5 percent and an increase of 9 percent over the same period in 2019.
Boeing forecasted that the Chinese civil aviation market will require 8,830 new airplanes over the next 20 years, including regional jets, single-aisle aircraft, wide-body aircraft, and freighters. Over the next two decades, Chinese carriers will need aviation services worth $780 billion to support the growing fleet, including digital solutions, maintenance, and modifications, according to the Boeing market forecast.
The CMO also predicts that air travel in China will become the world’s largest traffic flow, driving growth in the single-aisle fleet, which accounts for more than three-quarters of deliveries. China is expected to have the world’s largest wide-body fleet, with demand for 1,575 new wide-body airplanes. Additionally, China’s freighter fleet—including dedicated and converted models—will nearly triple, stimulated by its booming e-commerce sector.
Meanwhile, besides the Shanghai-based China Eastern Airlines, two other Chinese airlines—Air China and China Southern Airlines—also received their first C919 jets at COMAC’s manufacturing base on Wednesday in Shanghai. This marks the beginning of a new phase of operation of the C919 planes by multiple airlines. To date, the C919 has netted more than 1,000 orders at home and abroad, with nine aircraft already delivered.
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Boeing says China's commercial airplane fleet will double in 20 years
cgtn.com
