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Slower Fleet Recovery In Southeast Asia Underlines Market Needs, Boeing Says
Boeing's Darren Hulst presents at the Singapore Airshow.
SINGAPORE—Despite dramatic long-term fleet growth projections, Boeing data shows that Southeast Asia is still behind 2019 levels in terms of narrowbody capacity.
The size of the single-aisle fleet in Southeast Asia is about 75 aircraft smaller than it was before the COVID-19 pandemic, said Darren Hulst, Boeing Commercial Aircraft vice president for commercial marketing, during the Singapore Airshow. Single-aisle capacity is down about 6% over that time.
This emphasizes that there is “pent up demand” for fleet replacement, Hulst said in a Feb. 4 presentation. He also noted that fleet age in the Southeast Asia subregion “is starting to creep up,” and is the second-oldest in the broader Asia-Pacific region behind Oceania.
“This gives a sense of the rising demand, not just for growth, but for replacement in this market as we look over the next 10 years,” Hulst said.
Boeing estimates that Southeast Asian airlines will require 4,885 new aircraft over the next 20 years, 80% of which would be narrowbodies. The subregion’s aviation industry will also require about 243,000 new aviation professionals to be hired during that period, including 62,000 pilots, 103,00 cabin crew, and 78,000 technicians.
Travel demand in Southeast Asia is expected to grow quickly. Boeing projects Southeast Asia will be one of the world’s two fastest growing subregions—along with South Asia—with its passenger traffic expected to increase 7% annually through 2044.
Boeing calculates that the number of airport pairs and monthly flights in Southeast Asia doubled between 2000 and 2025, with monthly seats tripling.
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