Article Posted on : - Oct 12, 2011

BLAGNAC, FRANCE (BNS): Russia would need more than 1,000 passenger planes over the next 20 years in response to strong growth in air traffic, Airbus has projected.

The country would rank sixth among the top 10 countries for passenger aircraft demand after the US, China, India, Germany and UK.

According to the latest Airbus Global Market Forecast, the Russian passenger aircraft fleet of 100 seats or more is expected to grow strongly from 519 aircraft in service in 2010 to 1,058 by 2030.

This means that over the next 20 years, Russian airlines will need 1,006 aircraft, valued at US$ 95 billion to meet fleet growth as well as aircraft replacement.

The additional aircraft will include some 839 single-aisle aircraft, 145 wide-bodies and some 22 Very Large Aircraft (VLA) to satisfy strong international travel growth, the European aerospace giant said in its forecast.

Passenger traffic in Russia is expected to increase at a rate of 5.6 per cent per year on average over the next 20 years, which is much faster than the world average of 4.8 per cent. The biggest traffic growth would be on international destinations from Russia to Asia-Pacific (+7%) and CIS regions (6.7%).

"We see very strong demand for new, fuel-efficient aircraft in Russia and forecast the need for over 1000 aircraft in the forthcoming 20 years.

"We intend to get at least half of the deliveries in the region," Christopher Buckley, Executive Vice President Europe, Asia and the Pacific, said.

Russian airlines are currently operating over 170 Airbus aircraft and delivery of another 80 aircraft is scheduled in the coming years.