Boeing sees strong 20-year market for commercial jets

SEATTLE — Boeing Co. is projecting airlines will need $2.6 trillion worth of new commercial jets over the next 20 years, enough to double the worldwide fleet of passenger and cargo planes to nearly 36,000 by 2025.

In its latest market forecast, the Chicago-based jet maker said Wednesday that most new planes will be single-aisle and twin-aisle models seating 100 to 400 passengers.

While the Asia-Pacific region will drive much of that demand, North America will remain the world’s largest market for new planes as airlines update their aging fleets.

Because fuel costs have risen sharply, Boeing now predicts airlines will retire and replace about 1,400 more planes with more fuel-efficient models than it had previously predicted, Randy Baseler, vice president of marketing for Boeing’s commercial airplanes division, said in a conference call with reporters.

Boeing expects airlines to take delivery of more than 27,000 new passenger and cargo jets over the next 20 years, including:

“16,540 single-aisle planes of 100 to 240 seats in passenger configurations.

“ 6,230 twin-aisle planes of 200 to 400 seats.

“ 3,450 regional jets of 90 seats or fewer.

“ 990 jumbo jets of more than 400 seats.

About 65 percent of new planes will go to airlines expanding their fleets, with the remainder replacing planes that are being retired, Boeing said. The vast majority will be passenger planes.

Boeing forecast a weaker market for jumbo jets than its chief rival, Airbus SAS, which has invested heavily in developing its massive A380 — a 555-seat plane that has been plagued by recent production delays.

In its latest 20-year market forecast, released two years ago, Airbus projected airlines will demand roughly 1,600 jumbos.

Boeing predicts most of the growth in air travel will come from more frequent flights and nonstop trips.