Airbus sees no softening in demand despite geopolitical headwinds

Despite geopolitical and supply chain challenges, Airbus remains confident in the demand for new aircraft, according to its Asia-Pacific president Anand Stanley. Speaking at a briefing in Hong Kong, Stanley highlighted a strong readiness among customers to take deliveries and a significant increase in deliveries across the board, not just in Asia-Pacific, but globally.

Airbus predicts that a total of 42,000 new aircraft will be required worldwide over the next two decades, with about 45% of those deliveries expected to go to the Asia-Pacific region.

Chinese airlines are particularly in need of a fleet renewal, as they currently take around 400 deliveries a year, down from 400 before the Covid-19 pandemic. French aerospace manufacturer Airbus expects China, its largest market for commercial jets, to require 8,830 new passenger aircraft over the next two decades, while India will need 3,480 and the rest of Asia-Pacific will require 6,880.

The forecast also revealed a divergence in growth within Asia, with India emerging as the world's fastest-growing air travel market, with Airbus raising its domestic traffic growth forecast for the country to 9.3% from 8.9%, while reducing China's forecast to 4.7% from 5.4%.