Travel rebound to turbocharge plane deliveries

ILARIA GRASSO MACOLA

CHINA is set to be the engine for global aviation’s recovery after its reopening from Covid-19 restrictions, with 44,500 new planes set to be delivered in the next 20 years.

Data published yesterday by aviation analytics firm Cirium shows the planes will be made in order to meet a 3.6 per cent annual passenger travel growth globally.

Worth $2.9 trillion (£2.4 trillion), the orders will be mainly driven by China’s post-Covid reopening, as Beijing is expected to have the highest passenger growth rate at six per cent per year.

The country is also set to account for 19 of the total 22 per cent of the region’s plane deliveries. North America and Europe will follow suit, taking respectively 21 and 17 per cent of all deliveries.

Cirium’s head of consultancy Rob Morris said the aviation industry was “undergoing structural changes, but remains on course to return to traditional growth paths by 2025”.

Airbus and Boeing will remain the two main players, delivering an estimated 80 per cent of aircraft between them, Cirium added.