Boeing raises long-term plane forecast on narrowbody demand surge.

Boeing Raises Forecast for New Jetliner Deliveries

By Valerie Insinna

PARIS (Reuters) – U.S. planemaker Boeing has raised its annual 20-year forecast for new jetliner deliveries, driven by the strong demand from low-cost carriers in the narrowbody market.

Boeing now expects airlines to purchase 42,595 jets between now and 2042, up from its previous forecast of 41,170 planes.

The latest projection, released ahead of the Paris Airshow, is slightly lower than the 43,610 new jets predicted in 2021, which included Russian aircraft demand.

Boeing anticipates that narrowbody jets like its 737 MAX and Airbus’ A320neo family will dominate aircraft deliveries, with 32,420 single-aisle jets delivered through 2042.

This demand will be fueled by the expansion of low-cost carriers, who are expected to double the size of their current fleets, according to Darren Hulst, Boeing’s vice president of commercial marketing.

In addition to narrowbody jets, deliveries from now until 2042 are projected to include 7,440 widebody planes, 1,810 regional jets, and 925 freighters. Boeing predicts that approximately half of these new jet deliveries will replace older models, while the other half will contribute to the growth of airlines’ fleets.

“The end of the recovery has played out largely as we’ve expected, with a few different nuances and dynamics,” said Hulst, highlighting the reduced demand for regional jets compared to last year as interest in narrowbody planes continues to grow.

Boeing also expects the global aircraft fleet to nearly double over the next 20 years, reaching 48,600 jets by 2042. Last year’s outlook predicted a global fleet of 43,470 aircraft in 2041.

The company has slightly raised its industrywide passenger traffic forecast growth rate from 3.8% to 4%. Despite a temporary slowdown in the air cargo market, the estimated 3% annual growth in trade over the next 20 years will contribute to future demand, according to Hulst.

“I think we’ll again see how resilient the demand for air cargo is because it’s consistently around 3.5% to 4% growth,” he said.

While Chinese air traffic remained depressed in 2022, Hulst expressed optimism about China’s market, which is expected to account for 20% of the demand, with the rest of Asia making up another 22%.

Airbus, which also published its own market forecast, raised its delivery projections to 40,850 new jets through 2042.

(Reporting by Valerie Insinna; editing by Jonathan Oatis)

After Bill Gates met with China’s Xi Jinping, Antony Blinken’s meeting comes amid rising tensions and China’s plans to spy on the U.S. from Cuba.

California proposes taking so-called affirmation of a child’s gender identity into account in child custody disputes. Here’s One America’s Sam Valk with more.

This week has been filled with major headlines in the US and around the world. One America’s Rachel Acenas has more in our Week in Review.

Guggenheim Baseball Management, which owns the Los Angeles Dodgers, is going ahead with their salute to the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence.

(Reuters) -Meta Platforms said on Friday services on its social media apps Facebook and Instagram were restored, more than two hours after…

(Reuters) – Microsoft, which is seeking to buy games giant Activision, faces two legal fights in coming weeks with U.S. antitrust enforcers…

By Angus Berwick and Tom Wilson LONDON (Reuters) – The U.S. affiliate of crypto giant Binance has carried out a round of…

By Chris Prentice NEW YORK (Reuters) – A top U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) official on Friday rejected criticism of the…