Jet numbers 'to double in 20 years'

THE number of commercial jetliners will more than double over the next two decades, Boeing has predicted.The big growth will come through the likes of Britain's booming budget airlines Ryanair and easyJet and through rapid expansion in the Asia-Pacific market, the world's largest aircraft maker said.

Releasing figures at the Farnborough Air Show, Boeing said it was budgeting for average worldwide air traffic growth of 4.9% a year for the next 20 years. That would translate into 24,000 new aircraft deliveries over the period, it said in its annual market outlook.

Accounting for the retirement of ageing aircraft, the global commercial fleet will need to expand from the current 15,271 to 32,500. Such growth was reflected in Tuesday's Government proposals to double London's airport capacity over the next 20 years.

Boeing reckons the Asia-Pacific market will triple in size over the next 20 years and has identified single-aisle planes for regional operators as accounting for the bulk of new demand. The company has pegged back production to delivering 380 new commercial aircraft this year with further cuts to between 275 and 300 aircraft in 2003. Boeing delivered 527 jets last year. It has made no projections yet for 2004 production levels.

There have been signals that the company is cooling the hype over the development of a long-range Sonic Cruiser to fly at just below the speed of sound. But Boeing today said the US aerospace arm of Britain's GKN will be an advanced technology partner on the project.