Boeing 737 MAX crisis adds to high demand for older planes

The second-hand market for airplanes is booming due to a chronic shortage that has persisted since the pandemic - and fears are growing that Boeing's latest crisis could tighten the squeeze in coming months. The industry is already some 3,000 planes short of what it planned pre-COVID due to pandemic disruption and other bottlenecks at Boeing and Airbus, leasing firm Avolon says. Now, curbs on Boeing production in the wake of a mid-air blowout, opens new tab add to pressures forcing airlines to fly older planes for longer - from engine shortages to supply chains and an abrupt snapback in travel in many parts of the world. "It just compounds the supply shortage and it pushes back the date when we may return to a balanced market," said analyst George Dimitroff of the aviation analytics company Cirium, who sees strains until at least 2027. Carriers are paying higher prices to ensure they have a big enough fleet to keep up with demand, which airlines group IATA expects to reach a record 4.7b passengers in 2024. The supply crunch has been a hot topic at a major meeting in Dublin, home to many of the top lessors, this week. "We've seen a strong increase in values because of the shortage of new kit," Aengus Kelly, said CEO of AerCap, the world's largest trader and lessor of aircraft. In a break from usual patterns, some airlines are buying the planes they had been renting rather than negotiating lease extensions, he said on the sidelines of the Airline Economics conference. That's a sign that "airlines know that the issues that we have are not going to get solved anytime soon," he added.<br/>