Boeing Co predicted today that the next 20 years will see significant growth for commercial airline manufacturing as Asia increasingly becomes an economic powerhouse, according to dpa. Chicago-based Boeing forecast there will be a 3.6-trillion-dollar market over the next two decades, based on an expectation that passenger demand will increase by 5.3 per cent. The annual Boeing report said there will be a market for 30,900 new commercial passenger and freighter airplanes. "We expect the world economy to grow above the long-term trend this year. As a result, both passenger and cargo travel will grow this year," said Randy Tinseth, Boeing's vice president of marketing. Tinseth however cautioned that fuel prices remain volatile and the industry still faces challenges resulting from the recent global recession. Boeing said the emerging economies of China and India are driving the growth in Asia. One-third of all airline traffic in the world currently touches the Asia-Pacific region, and that number is expected to climb to 43 per cent by 2029, Boeing said.
