Airbus Revises Up 20-Year Airplane Demand Forecast

Airbus revised up its forecast for airplane demand over the next 20 years on June 12, telling investors and suppliers the air transport industry was expected to ride out the current wave of trade tensions.

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The European planemaker said it expected the industry dominated by it and its US rival Boeing to deliver 43,420 commercial jets between 2025 and 2044, an increase of 2 per cent from its previous rolling 20-year forecast issued a year ago. That includes 42,450 passenger jets, up 2 per cent from the previous forecast, and 970 factory-built freighters, up 3 per cent.

Airbus stuck to its previous projection that air traffic would grow on average by 3.6 per cent a year, despite chopping half a percentage point off its forecast for annual growth in trade to 2.6 per cent and shaving its projection for global gross domestic product growth slightly to 2.5 per cent.