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BY OUR AVIATION CORRESPONDENT
19th August, 2005: Moscow: Aircraft maker Boeing’s annual forecast for commercial airplanes has put the spotlight on Russia and countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States.
The aircraft maker sees the countries needing 1,340 passenger aircraft in the next two decades. However, the report says this would not be entirely new aircraft, which means the aircraft requirement will consist of used planes also.
The US Aircraft maker said single-aisle planes of the Boeing 737 family will be the most sought after airline. It would account for nearly 50 per cent of all new aircraft needed by Russia and CIS nations, according to the report.
Boeing said in a release that around 36 per cent of the aircraft requirement of these nations in the period would be regional jets. Regional jets, according to Boeing, are jets with a maximum seating capacity of 100.
The Boeing document indicates that the airlines in the region will need around 130 twin-aisle planes, including the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
Craig Jones, vice president, sales, Russia and the CIS, Boeing Commercial Airplanes, pointed out on the sidelines of the Moscow Air show that almost all of the airplanes in the current fleet of these nations have a lifespan which ends by 2024.
The market for freighter aircraft is also projected to grow 60 per cent as per Boeing’s scheme of things. Of these, about 2/3rds of the aircraft will be new and converted, in the standard and medium body category, according to Boeing.
Boeing claims a market share of more than 80 percent of western-built aircraft in these countries. As per Boeing’s estimates, 144 of the 180 such aircraft are made by Boeing.
The Boeing 747 and Airbus A380 will represent less than 10 percent of the Russian/CIS freighter market. Boeing's Current Market Outlook is the aircraft maker's analysis of the 20-year demand for commercial airplanes.
BY OUR AVIATION CORRESPONDENT
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