Hit by poor sales in the US and Europe, aircraft makers Airbus and Boeing want to ride on the rapid traffic growth in the Asia-Pacific region, where more than 315 aircraft are expected to be delivered over the next five years, officials say.
A dramatic recovery in passenger and cargo traffic in the Asia-Pacific region after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks in the US may propel the region to become the biggest market for aircraft sales even before the target date of 2020 for achieving that goal, Airbus chief commercial officer John Leahy said.
At present, the Asia-Pacific region is the third largest aircraft sales market after dominant player North America and second-ranking Western Europe.
Aviation experts had forecast that the region, based on its rapid traffic expansion, will overtake North America as the top player in 18 years.
"As this is being playing out, the crisis that we have just seen seems to be accelerating that process, where we see the Asia-Pacific market already recovering from 9/11 and resuming its very strong growth rate," Leahy said on the sidelines of a weekend meeting here of chief executives of 17 leading airlines in the region.
The meeting was held under the ambit of the Association of Asia-Pacific Airlines (AAPA), which said in a report that its members were planning to take delivery of 315 aircraft over the next five years.
The orders and options placed by AAPA members are about 70 percent for the American Boeing aircraft and the remaining for Europe's Airbus.
The two manufacturers are aggressively marketing their products in the region as they strive to overcome the worst downturn in their business.
Leahy said that while Asian airlines had largely restored their levels of profitability after the Sept. 11 crisis, "some airlines in the United States are still losing five, six, seven million dollars a day. "So from a manufacturer's point of view, we see that the spotlight is now moving on to the Asia-Pacific region."
Airbus is negotiating with at least three Asian airlines to sell its new giant A380 plane, Leahy said.
Singapore Airlines will be the first carrier to operate the A380 aircraft, which will have variants to carry passengers and cargo, with deliveries scheduled from the first quarter of 2006.
Airbus Asia spokesman Anthony Phillips said rapid traffic growth would see the Asia-Pacific region being the single largest market globally for aircraft with more than 400 seats such as the flagship 555-seat A380.
In value terms, Airbus estimates the total market value for new aircraft in the region at nearly US$500 billion up to 2020, Phillips said. Boeing opened a new office in Kuala Lumpur recently to enhance operations.
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