In its latest current market outlook published last Thursday, Boeing projects a near-term increase in airline traffic growth, with global economies expected to regain lost ground in the next two or three years as they recover from the latest worldwide recession. Having grown steadily at around 5 percent per year for the past 30 years, international scheduled passenger traffic is seen as increasing annually at a higher 5.3 percent during the 2009 to 2029 timeframe, according to Boeing Commercial Airplanes marketing vice president Randy Tinseth.
Launching Boeing’s latest 20-year forecast in London four days ago, Tinseth attributed a 0.4 percent-point increase (from 4.9 to 5.3 percent) in projected long-term annual-growth rates to 2009’s lower traffic base following recession. He said he expects the average 5-percent-increase-per-year trend to resume after the 2013-2014 timeframe.
