Three Airbus jets fly through the sky. Photo courtesy Airbus.
Airbus delivered 367 aircraft to 50 operators across the Asia-Pacific in 2017. The company reports that figure to be two-thirds of new business in the region, and the deliveries account for more than half of Airbus’ total for 2017. Going forward, orders by Asia-Pacific operators comprise one-third of Airbus’ 6,000-plus- aircraft backlog.
Airbus is focusing hard on a market that they expect to grow momentously.
“There is no doubt that Asia-Pacific is a core market for Airbus,” said Airbus EVP Eric Schulz. “With traffic tripling over the next 20 years and some of the highest growth rates, the Asia Pacific region will by far be the world’s largest aviation market.”
Airbus forecasts an annual passenger traffic increase of 5.6%, which would mean tripling after 20 years. according to the company, represents more than 40% of the global demand for nearly 35,000 aircraft over the next two decades.
To put that in perspective, a 5.6% annual increase would mean annual passenger traffic would triple after 20 years.
With such a strong foothold in the region and a rosy outlook for the coming years, Airbus has made it clear that it feels confident about its prospects for dominance in the Asia-Pacific.