According to Airbus’ latest Global Market Forecast (GMF), air traffic will grow at 4.7 per cent annually over the next 20 years requiring more than 29,220 new passenger and freighter aircraft.
The total of aircraft will be valued at nearly US$4.4 trillion.
Economic growth, growing middle classes, affordability, ease of travel, urbanisation, tourism, and migration are some factors adding to the required increase to the fleet.
Increasing urbanisation will lead to a doubling of mega cities from 42 today to 89 by 2032, and 99 per cent of the world’s long-haul traffic will be between or through these.
Traffic growth has led to average aircraft size ‘growing’ by 25 per cent with airlines selecting larger aircraft or up-sizing existing backlogs.
A focus on sustainable growth enabled fuel burn and noise reductions of at least 70 per cent in the last 40 years and this trend continues with innovations like the A320neo, the A320 Sharklet, the A380 and the A350 XWB.
“By 2032, Asia-Pacific will lead the world in traffic overtaking Europe and North America.
Domestic flights are also set to rise strongly with domestic India growing at the fastest rate (nearly 10 per cent), followed by China and Brazil (seven per cent).
The attraction of air travel means that passenger numbers will more than double from today’s 2.9 billion, to 6.7 billion by 2032, clearly demonstrating aviation’s essential role in economic growth,” said John Leahy, Chief Operating Officer – Customers.
