(Yicai Global) Oct. 28 -- The number of civil aircraft in China will more than double over the coming two decades, as the country’s economic growth boosts the airline industry, according to a forecast by Boeing.

China will have more than 9,600 commercial aircraft in 2041, compared with 3,900 now, the US plane maker said in its 2022 Commercial Market Outlook for China released yesterday.

The world’s second-largest economy will need nearly 8,500 new planes worth USD1.5 trillion in the next 20 years, as passenger numbers are expected to grow by an average 4.9 percent a year, accounting for more than a fifth of global plane deliveries, Boeing said.

China’s cargo plane fleet will triple through 2041 to over 800 to meet fast-growing demand from e-commerce as well as industrial and supply chains, Boeing data showed.

“China's economic fundamentals will continue to fuel significant demand for both its passenger and cargo fleets,” Peter Gao, Boeing’s vice president for commercial sales and marketing in China, said in a statement to accompany the report’s release.

The top three civil carriers in the country -- China Southern Airlines, China Eastern Airlines, and Air China -- announced in July that they will buy 292 Airbus-made A320neo jets worth USD37.3 billion, the biggest order ever placed by the three.

China’s domestic plane makers will also join the supply race. The country’s first independently made passenger plane, the C919, developed and produce by Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, gained its airworthiness certificate last month. The first is expected to be delivered to China Eastern in December.

Shanghai-based Comac has received orders from 28 customers for 815 C919 planes worth nearly CNY530 billion (USD73.3 billion), according to the firm’s own figures.

Editor: Futura Costaglione