Jets Magazine Stealth: Flying on the dark side Back Issue

As I researched this issue’s News pages I was interested to note both Boeing and Airbus being bullish about the future of airline travel. A survey conducted by Boeing projected a need for almost half a million new airline pilots over the next 20 years and a similar number of maintenance technicians. Meanwhile, European rival Airbus predicted a demand for more than 29,000 new aircraft over the same period, leading pundits to suggest these trends indicate the imminent end of the worldwide recession. Global Growth Airbus’ latest Global Market Forecast for the period from 2013 to 2032 predicted air traffic will grow 4.7% annually, leading to a requirement for 29,220 new passenger and freighter aircraft valued at nearly US$4.4 trillion. Some 28,350 of these are passenger aircraft and of these 10,400 will replace existing aircraft with more efficient versions.
With today’s fleet of 17,740 aircraft, it means that by 2032 the worldwide fleet will nearly double to 36,560 aircraft. According to Airbus this growth comes about due to “economic growth, growing middle classes, affordability, ease of travel, urbanisation, tourism, and migration.”