Boeing forecasts $5.2t in aircraft orders over next 20 years

PARIS, July 10 (AFP): Aviation giant Boeing on Thursday raised its forecast for aircraft demand, saying it now expects to deliver 36,770 planes over the next two decades in deals worth $5.2 trillion (3.8 trillion euros).
Boeing's latest forecast is up 4.2 per cent from last year's, with about a third of the total demand expected to come from the Asia-Pacific region.
The maker of the best-selling 737 jetliner said rising demand for single-aisle planes from low-cost carriers is expected to drive growth.
Boeing forecast it will sell some 25,680 new airplanes in this sector, making up some 70 per cent of predicted sales.
"Based on the overwhelming amount of orders and deliveries, we see the heart of the single-aisle market in the 160-seat range," said Randy Tinseth, vice president for marketing at Boeing Commercial Airplanes.
"There's no question the market is converging to this size, where network flexibility and cost efficiency meet."
The higher forecast comes amid concerns about the outlook for the aviation sector after Air France-KLM and Lufthansa both cut their earnings targets due to weak demand.
Boeing this month reported it had received a net 499 in new orders in the first half of the year, outpacing European rival Airbus. Together the two groups dominate the global market for passenger airliners.
Airbus is expected to unveil billions of dollars worth of contracts at next week's key biennial Farnborough airshow in England, where the two companies will go head-to-head in the fight for new orders.
On Thursday, Bloomberg reported that Indian carrier IndiGo could order more than 200 A320neo jets, in a deal worth more than $20 billion.