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AIRLINES in South and Southeast Asia are expected to order more than 3,000 planes worth 103 billion dollars (S$145.61 billion) in the next 20 years, with India, Indonesia and Malaysia as key growth drivers, Boeing said on Wednesday.
Mr Dinesh Keskar, Boeing senior vice-president for sales, said 1,940 planes are forecast to be delivered in Southeast Asia and 1,067 in Southwest Asia, a large chunk of them to the booming Indian market.
Fleet revitalisation would drive orders for both regions as airlines move to meet an explosion in demand, he said on the sidelines of the Singapore Airshow.
Most of the orders are single-aisle aircraft preferred by low-cost carriers, which have mushroomed in both regions and is revolutionising air travel.
Future deliveries to Malaysia and Indonesia are expected to reach 740 new airplanes, or about 38 percent of the total for Southeast Asia.
India will power the boom in airplane orders in Southwest Asia following the deregulation of the aviation industry, leading people who normally took the train to now afford travelling by air, he said.
Of the 1,067 forecast deliveries to South Asia, 85 per cent will go to India, while Pakistan will account for eight percent, he said.
India is expected to get 911 planes worth 86 billion dollars (S$121.3 billion) in the next 20 years, 74 per cent of them single-aisle aircraft.
Mr Keskar said the US aircraft-maker leads its European rival Airbus in India.
Boeing cornered 53 per cent of the new aircraft deliveries in India last year while Airbus had 47 per cent, he said.
'Clearly the picture is we are leading in India and we will continue to do so,' Mr Keskar said.
Boeing got a headstart at the airshow against Airbus when it announced Tuesday massive orders by two Indonesian carriers worth more than five billion dollars.
Low-cost carrier Lion Air said it had ordered 56 Boeing 737-900ERs and the right to purchase an additional 50 of the aircraft. Its 737-900ER fleet rises to 178, and Boeing said it was now the world's largest operator of the plane.
Garuda ordered 10 Boeing 777-300ER aircraft to expand its international routes, saying four planes were new buys worth more than one billion dollars at list prices, while six others converted previous orders for B777-200s. -- AFP
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