Boeing said on Monday it expects that customers in the Asia-Pacific region will buy 7,200 new aircraft over the next 20 years, at a cost of $770 billion. “The airlines will continue meeting passenger’s demands for more direct nonstop flights to destinations around the world with longer-range, efficient and comfortable airplanes,” said Boeing spokesman Randy Tinseth. The trends, at least as Boeing sees them, seem to favor Boeing’s new products rather than large-capacity behemoths like the Airbus A380. Tinseth said the region will require aircraft in the 200- to-400 seat capacity category, “with only a few very large ones being needed.” In Taiwan and the Asia-Pacific region, available seat miles have doubled since 1990, Boeing said, and are forecast to continue growing at 6 percent per year. China’s domestic market is projected to grow at a rate of almost 9 percent.
