Industry Airbus expects 37,400 new aircraft in the coming 20 years

Between the years 2018 and 2037, the manufacturer sees demand for a doubled passenger fleet of the current world´s aircraft. In addition, traffic is expected to grow at a resilient 4.4% per year. The growth accelerates a demand for 37,390 new passenger and freighter aircraft.

According Airbus, main growth drivers are higher incomes, increased private consumption and a growing middle class. Greater aircraft capacity and range will allow airlines to globally use aircraft with high flexibility to explore new business opportunities.

Over 70% of the required 37,390 aircraft are for growth, while the other 10,850 aircraft will replace aging aircraft with less fuel efficiency.

Eric Schulz, Airbus Chief Commercial Officer stated: “There is a growing trend to use aircraft across a broader range of operations, with today’s more capable aircraft blurring the boundaries between market segments. These realities made us develop a new segmentation with Small, Medium, Large and Extra-Large categories, reflecting more closely the way airlines operate aircraft [...] Thanks to the versatility of our leading, most comprehensive Family of aircraft, the top end of our single aisles, the A321neo, fly efficiently on long haul routes and our wide bodies like the A330neo equally serve regional operations. We’re extremely strong in this Medium market segment.”

Airbus stated, that the need for pilots to operate the then 48,000 aircraft strong fleet would be very high. 540,000 new pilots would be needed.

Recently, manufacturer ATR has announced, that it sees demand for 3,000 turboprop aircraft in the future.