Aircraft Industry: Airbus Sees $4.6 Trillion Jet Market as China Tops U.S. - by Christopher Jasper and Andrea Rothman

Airbus A380

Airbus Group NV predicted airlines will buy planes worth $4.6 trillion at list prices over the next 20 years, with Chinese domestic travel surpassing the U.S. as the largest single aviation market within a decade.
Airlines will need 31,400 new jetliners and freighters during the period -- 2,180 or 7 percent more than suggested in Airbus’s previous 20-year forecast a year ago -- with passenger growth remaining at 4.7 percent annually, the company estimates.

John Leahy, Airbus’s sales chief, said in an interview that the company could contemplate lifting production of its single-aisle A320 series to 50 aircraft a month or higher, though no decision will be taken until 2015. The new forecast assumes that the A380 superjumbo will win more than half the market for very large aircraft, where it competes with Boeing Co. (BA)’s latest 747, and that production can continue at 30 a year, he added.

“While mature aviation regions such as Europe and North America will continue to grow, Asia will stand out along with emerging markets for dynamic development,” said Leahy, who is also Airbus’s chief commercial officer. Demand will be especially strong for twin-engine wide-bodies, especially in 2017 through 2022, and the company is studying increased output of the new A350 and a faster ramp-up to full production of the re-engined A330neo, with decisions likely next year, he said.

Read more: Airbus Sees $4.6 Trillion Jet Market as China Tops U.S. - Bloomberg