China's new commercial aircraft demand forecast at 1.47 tln USD in 2 decades: Boeing

A flight attendant of Xiamen Airlines greets guests before a test flight at Beijing Capital International Airport in Beijing, capital of China, May 13, 2019. (Xinhua/Cai Yang)

BEIJING, Sept. 23 (Xinhua) -- China's resilient aviation market will create new commercial aircraft demand valued at 1.47 trillion U.S. dollars over 20 years, said Boeing's latest market forecast released in Beijing Thursday.

China's economic vitality and recovering air travel demand will enable the country's airlines to purchase around 8,700 new aircraft over the 2021-2040 period, said the China forecast, which is part of Boeing's 2021 Commercial Market Outlook.

Over 20 years, the Chinese market will receive some 6,500 single-aisle planes and 1,850 widebody aircraft, showed the U.S. planemaker's annual long-term demand forecast for commercial airplanes and services.

"The rapid recovery of Chinese domestic air travel highlights the country's economic vitality and resilience. Notably, the underlying demand from international long-haul travel and air freight transport will boost the widebody deliveries," said Richard Wynne, managing director of China Marketing at Boeing Commercial Airplanes.

The widebody deliveries, including passenger aircraft and freighters, account for 44 percent of the Chinese market demand by value, Wynne added.

Over the next 20 years, China is also expected to create a commercial aviation services market valued at around 1.8 trillion U.S. dollars, the forecast showed.

China's aviation sector has remained the world's second-largest in terms of passenger trips for 15 years.

Thanks to the country's economic resilience and effective pandemic control, China is leading the global civil aviation industry in recovering from the COVID-19 impact, according to the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC).