An Airbus A380 aircraft dwarfs an American Airlines Mc-Donnell Douglas MD-82 as it taxis at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, on March 20. The European plane maker says it will deliver the first 25 A380s to Singapore Airlines later this year. - Reuters

Boeing Company on Wednesday boosted its 20-year market projections for new commercial jets to US$2.8 trillion (€2.1 trillion), up about $200 billion (€150.5 billion) from its forecast last year, citing a growing demand for regional, single-aisle and twin-aisle jets that airlines want for non-stop routes.

Boeing lowered its market forecast for jumbo jets over the next two decades to 960 planes - down from 990 last year - saying airlines are increasingly turning to smaller, more fuel-efficient planes that will fly passengers directly where they want to go, bypassing layovers at hubs.

Non-stop flights also cost airlines less and are more environmentally friendly because planes burn less fuel and produce fewer emissions with only one take-off and landing per flight, said Randy Tinseth, vice-president of marketing for Boeing's Seattle-based commercial airplane division, in a conference call with reporters about the company's 2007 Current Market Outlook report.

Jamaica plans to lease six planes from the American firm as it refleets for greater efficiency.

"Airlines have accommodated air travel by adding more frequencies and non-stops, and what's most important for us is that we've seen this trend for the last 20 to 25 years, and we expect this trend to continue into the future."

Buy new planes

All told, Chicago-based Boeing projects airlines will buy 28,600 new passenger and cargo planes over the next two decades, including:

17,650 single-aisle airplanes seating 90 to 240 passengers.

6,290 twin-aisle jets seating 200 to 400 passengers.

3,700 regional jets with no more than 90 seats.

960 jumbo jets seating more than 400 passengers.

The new planes will meet an estimated five per cent annual increase in passenger traffic and a 6.1 per cent rise in yearly air cargo traffic, Boeing said.

Boeing said about one-third of the demand for new planes will come from the Asia-Pacific region, followed by North America, which will account for about one-quarter of worldwide demand.

Single-aisle planes like Boeing's 737 and rival Airbus SAS's A320s will continue to be the market's best-sellers, driven by brisk growth among low-cost carriers.

But Boeing expects to make more money from sales of larger twin-aisle jets like its 777 and new 787, which is scheduled to enter commercial service next May, about five years ahead of when Airbus plans to begin delivering its competing A350 XWB.

Boeing's projects much weaker demand for jumbo jets than Airbus, which has invested heavily in its 555-seat A380. That plane is scheduled to enter commercial service in October after delays caused by production snags that wiped more than US$6 billion (€4.5 billion) off the company's profit forecast for 2006-2010.

In Airbus' most recent market forecast, released last fall, the European aircraft maker projected airlines will buy more than 1,200 passenger jumbo jets over the next two decades.

- AP

TAKEN FROM THE FINANCIAL GLEANER, FRIDAY, JUNE 15, 2007