Southeast Asia will need more than 3,700 new airplanes over the next 20 years, according to demand projections by aircraft manufacturer Boeing.
In its “Southeast Asia Current Market Outlook 2015-2034” presented in Singapore on February 15, Boeing forecasts continued strong annual traffic growth of 6.5% for the region over the next two decades.
“Southeast Asia continues to be an important market for Boeing and we expect airlines in the region will need 3,750 new airplanes worth $550 billion over the next 20 years,” said Dinesh Keskar, senior vice president of Asia Pacific and India Sales, Boeing Commercial Airplanes.
The annual forecast projects three-fourths of Southeast Asia’s new deliveries will be for growth, with the largest demand for single-aisle airplanes such as the Next-Generation 737 and new 737 MAX. There will also be demand for 800 wide-body airplanes such as the 777, 777X, and the 787 Dreamliner family.
Keskar said the forecast, which covers the period from 2015 until 2034, will see airlines continue to add capacity and adapt to new business models such as a growing number of low-cost carriers. The number of low-cost carriers is expected to grow to more than 45% of the total Southeast Asian market.
“Southeast Asia continues to be a growing market and we are quite bullish with this part of the world,” Keskar told reporters in Singapore.
He said the demand will also be driven by markets like Vietnam, Myanmar, and Indonesia.
Boeing projects a worldwide demand for 38,050 new airplanes over the next 20 years, with Southeast Asian carriers needing more than 9% of the total global demand during the period.
According to Keskar, since 2010, the Southeast Asian passenger traffic has grown by more than 9%, with intra-Southeast Asian traffic expected to increase by 7.7% in 20 years.
