Airbus expects airlines in the Asia-Pacific will buy 8,000 new aircraft, valued at USD1.2 trillion, in the next 20 years and that the region will overtake the US and Europe as the world's largest air transport market.
Airbus, part of aerospace group EADS, announced its forecast, which it derived from its Global Market Forecast, at the Singapore Airshow in a statement on Wednesday.
Expectations are for total demand for almost 25,000 new passenger and freighter aircraft valued at USD3.1 trillion between 2009 and 2028, Airbus said.
The Asia-Pacific region should represent about a third of total demand which will mostly be for larger aircraft as mounting concentration of populations around main urban centres will lead to high density traffic on key intra-regional routes, Airbus said.
