Demand for new aircraft in Caribbean to reach 2,300 by 2033

Herdon, Nov. 17, CMC - A report by Airbus has forecast that the Latin America and Caribbean regions will require around 2,300 new airliners by 2033.

This is according to the latest Global Market Forecast (GMF) by Airbus that says this will be driven by strong economy and expected air traffic growth.

Airbus predicts that the total value of new airplanes would be around US$292 billion.

“The regions will require 1,784 single-aisle, 481 twin-aisle and 29 very large aircraft. Around 40% of Latin America's top 20 cities connect passengers with at least one flight per day,” said a release from the company.

It said while North Americans and Europeans currently take 1.6 and one trips per capita respectively, passengers in Latin America and Caribbean are estimated to travel twice compared with Europeans.

"In regards to long-haul market, while the top European and North American airlines carry nearly 40% of the traffic, the top airlines of Latin American and the Caribbean only carry 19%, foregoing valuable revenue to foreign competitors,” said Airbus Latin American and the Caribbean president Rafael Alonso.

The GMF states that Latin American airlines will continue to revamp their fleets, while those in the Caribbean have an average aircraft age of 15 years.

In Latin America and the Caribbean, Airbus has to date sold more than 800 airliners and has a backlog of more than 550.