Boeing raised its annual 20-year forecast for new jetliner deliveries on Sunday, citing the strong demand for its narrowbody planes from low-cost carriers.
The company expects airlines to purchase 42,595 jets from now until 2042, thereby exceeding its previous 20-year forecast of 41,170 planes last year. This is still lower than the company’s projection of 43,610 jets in 2021 when Russian aircraft demand was included.
According to Boeing’s estimates, 32,420 of its narrowbody jets are expected to be sold through 2042, with the company predicting its 737 MAX to be particularly successful. In addition, the company expects to deliver 7,440 widebody planes, 1,810 regional jets, and 925 freighters.
Darren Hulst, Boeing’s vice president of commercial marketing, believes that demand will be driven by low-cost carriers looking to expand their fleet sizes.
“The end of the recovery has played out largely as we’ve expected, with a few different nuances and dynamics,” Hulst explained of the company’s performance during the post-pandemic travel industry boom. “I think we’ll again see how resilient the demand for air cargo is because it’s consistently around 3.5% to 4% growth,” he continued, airing his belief that air cargo demand will rise again following its ongoing growth hiatus.
