China's domestic air transport market will surpass those in North America and Europe by 2042, driven by a surge in demand for commercial air travel and a doubling of the country's fleet size, the US aircraft manufacturer Boeing Co has said.
China's economic growth is driven by an increasing demand for domestic air travel and a surge in China's demand for commercial airplanes, according to Boeing's latest Commercial Market Outlook.
Over the next 20 years, China's commercial jet fleet will double to more than 9,600 jets. With the ongoing recovery in air travel, China will account for one-fifth of the world's airplaneshipments in the next two decades, Boeing said in Beijing.
s resumption of international flights is led by the regional market in Asia, said Darren Hulst, Boeing's vice president of commercial marketing.
Hulst, who was in China for the first time since the pandemic, said it was very difficult to get an accurate picture of what was happening in China.
As China's economy and traffic continue to grow, Boeing's complete line of commercial jets would play a crucial role in supporting that growth, he said.
Along with the demand for single-aisle jets, Chinese carriers will also require 1,550 widebody airplanes mainly to support a growing network of international flights. With the further recovery of international flights, China is expected to show robust demand for new widebody aircraft and a need to replace older widebody aircraft with modern models, Boeing said.
By 2042, China's commercial fleet will generate demand for $5.6 billion worth of aircraft services, including maintenance, repair, training, and spare parts. To meet the growing demand of its expanding market, the nation will need 433,000 new aircraft crews, including 134,000 pilots, 138,000 technicians, and 161,000 cabin crew members.
Besides, the country's continued expansion in e-commerce and express shipping will spur demand for 190 new freightershipments over the course of the period. The fleet size of freighters that supported the growth of e-commerce has quadrupled in the past 12 years, Boeing said.
The rebound momentum of the post-COVID-19 recovery momentum continued in July for passenger markets worldwide, according to the International Air Transport Association.
Willie Walsh, the director-general of IATA, said: "IATA's director-general, Willie Walsh, was a very good man.
China's domestic air travel market is thriving. In August, some 64 million trips were handled, up 98 percent year-on-year, a record high, according to the Civil Aviation Administration of China.
The second-largest market for Boeing is China, and the largest for Boeing's European rival, Airbus.
COMAC, China's commercial aircraft firm, will deliver the third domestically developed single-aisle C919 aircraft to China Eastern Airlines in October. China Eastern has currently operated two C919 aircraft for daily flights from Shanghai to Chengdu, Sichuan province.