China needs 3,200 more aircraft as travel booms, says Avolon

Chinese airlines will need an additional 3,200 aircraft over the next 10 years as Chinese citizens travel more, according to Avolon, the international aircraft leasing company controlled by China’s conglomerate HNA Group. According to a research paper issued on Thursday, more than 50% of the aircraft still need to be ordered, including 1,150 narrow-body aircraft, 400 wide-body aircraft and 150 regional jets. China currently had 2,800 aircraft in its passenger service fleet, which accounted for 13% of the world’s total and represented 11% annual growth since 2010, the paper said. The fleet mix had a high narrow-body content, compared with the average for the rest of the world, and Chinese airlines were correspondingly underresourced in wide-body aircraft, it added. “China offers an attractive long-term growth opportunity for domestic and international airlines, aircraft [original equipment manufacturers] and aircraft leasing companies,” said Dick Forsberg, Avolon’s head of strategy and author of the study.<br/>“Competition for airlines is likely to be intense as Chinese airlines focus on capturing their growth potential while being challenged by international carriers.”<br/>