Airbus bullish despite global slowdown

Singapore

PLANE-MAKER Airbus maintains that orders for aircraft will continue to hold up despite a slowing global economy, pointing to robust traffic growth in the Asia Pacific underpinned by an emerging middle class.

Airbus has forecasted that the region will require 12,810 new planes valued at US$2 trillion over the next 20 years, with passenger traffic expected to expand by 5.6 per cent annually. This is about 40 per cent of the 32,600 aircraft that will be needed globally in the next two decades.