Aircraft makers count on Asia for growth

Singapore: Aircraft makers such as EADS’s Airbus and Boeing Co. are counting on Asia to pull the industry out of a slump and spur growth for years to come, executives said Wednesday.
Fuelled by a growing middle class eager to travel, the region will need about 8,000 planes costing $1.2 trillion by 2028, France’s Airbus estimates. Passenger traffic in Asia will likely grow an annual average of 5.9 percent during the next 20 years, overtaking the U.S. and Europe to become the largest air transport market, said Airbus, the world’s biggest airplane maker.
Global passenger traffic dropped about 2 percent last year amid a recession in most developed countries. Most Asian countries, meanwhile, continued to expand in 2009, and growing populations and vibrant economies are making the region the centre of the aviation business.
“It’s basic demographics,” said John Leahy, Airbus’s chief operating officer.
Niche players are also eyeing Asia for growth. EADS unit Eurocopter, which says it has about half of Asia’s helicopter market, expects demand to grow at least 10 percent a year for the next decade.
If regulations that limit helicopter use in China and India are lifted, demand will explode even further, said Eurocopter Chief Executive Lutz Bertling.
“The Asian market is for sure the fastest growing,” Bertling said. “It’s going to be bigger than the U.S. by 2020.”
03/02/10 The Hindu

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Categories: Foreign Feb 2010, Indian Aviation- In General Feb 2010, Singapore Airshow 2010