Boeing, the world's top aerospace company, expects Russian and Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) airlines to buy about 960 new planes for $90 billion in the next 20 years to upgrade the fleet of narrow-bodied planes, the company said on Thursday.
"Demand for planes will also be stimulated by the growth of passenger flow on international routes to Russia and CIS countries and on the domestic market, too. Our estimates show that passenger flow in the region will increase by 4.8 percent per year on average," Randy Tinseth, vice-president of Boeing Commercial Airplanes company in charge of marketing, was quoted in a statement as saying.
Tinseth said that an increasing number of passengers flying to Russia and the CIS for touristic and business reasons would be a precondition for a stable demand for transcontinental and interregional flights meaning that almost 60% of future supplies will be narrow-bodied planes.
The statement said that the fleet of airline carriers in the region will increase to 1,300 planes in 2029 from 1,150 planes, given the rates of replacing obsolete planes.
Boeing has also forecasted that the share of narrow-bodied planes would increase to 63% from 54% in 2029.
"Airlines have to pay more and more attention to the age of their fleets because old planes, which use a large amount of fuel, become a great burden. Increasing public and state authorities' attention to the influence of airplanes on the global climate will also be a factor which airlines will have to take into account, when they choose planes with a lower level of carbon emissions," the statement said.
The company said that demand for Boeing 787 Dreamliner wide-bodied planes in Russia and the CIS will amount 160, while demand for large planes like Boeing 747 models and higher will be 3% of overall supplies in the next 20 years. Russia and the CIS will buy about 30 large planes for cargo transportation.
MOSCOW, October 14 (RIA Novosti)
