More travellers will fly on US airlines around the Thanksgiving holiday this year than last, a trade group said Wednesday. US carriers are expected to fly 27.3m passengers worldwide from Friday, Nov. 18, through Tuesday, Nov. 29, up 2.5% from a year earlier, Washington-based Airlines for America said. The Sunday after Thanksgiving will likely be the busiest, with an estimated 2.81m travellers taking to the skies, the group said.<br/>
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State-owned Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China on Tuesday forecast the global airline industry will need almost 40,000 new planes worth $5.23t over the next 20 years, with Chinese buyers taking almost a fifth of that. In a market outlook published at the country's biggest airshow in Zhuhai, southern China, the aircraft maker said it expected the industry to deliver 39,948 new planes over 2016-2035 on the back of 4.45% annual growth in revenue per kilometre flown by passengers, a standard industry measure. COMAC's forecast assumes the global economy maintains an average annual growth rate of 3%. The Chinese market - expected to see annual passenger traffic growth of 6.1% over 2016-2035 - will need 6,865 new aircraft worth $930b over the period, with passenger revenue from China to account for 18% of global revenue by 2035, COMAC said.<br/>
Engine maker Pratt & Whitney said Wednesday that it had won nearly $800m in contracts from carriers Air China and Shenzhen Airlines to supply engines for their Airbus Group A320ceo aircraft. Doug Cai, president of Greater China, Pratt & Whitney, said that Air China had picked V2500 engines for 18 of its A320 aircraft, while Shenzhen Airlines selected the engine for 13 of its jets. The V2500 engine is designed and manufactured by International Aero Engines, a global partnership of aerospace firms including Pratt & Whitney, Japanese Aero Engine Corp and MTU Aero Engines. Pratt & Whitney also said it would assess opportunities for involvement in planemaker Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China's (COMAC) project to develop a wide-body passenger aircraft with Russia's United Aircraft Corporation.<br/>
Dubai hired HSBC Holdings to help raise $3b to finance the expansion of its airports. Dubai International Airport and Al Maktoum International Airport will grow to serve 146m passengers by 2025. The Dubai Department of Finance, the Investment Corp. of Dubai and Dubai Aviation City Corp. are working to raise Islamic and conventional financing. Dubai plans to develop Al Maktoum Airport into the world’s biggest hub with a capacity of about 220m passengers and Emirates airlines plans to move to the facility in 2025. The master plan for the airport’s second phase has been approved and the detailed design work is under way, Dubai Airports CEO Paul Griffiths said. <br/>