Boeing has tipped that air traffic on the Qantas-dominated Australia-North America route could almost quadruple over the next 20 years – if the green light is given for more competition between the two countries.
The giant American aircraft maker says air traffic on the route could grow at an annual rate of seven per cent until 2026 – even outstripping the annual 6.2 per cent growth between the US and the Asia-Pacific, the world’s fastest growing aviation market.
According to Boeing’s head of sales, Randy Tinseth, it’s all about the ‘Open Skies’ talks that will take place between North America and Australia after the federal election (Labor has said it will continue the talks if it wins government).
Tinseth said the predicted big growth in air traffic between Australia and North America would be pushed by the introduction of longer range aircraft, such as Boeing’s 787-9 Dreamliner, which could fly non-stop from Australia to any point in the US.
Currently, Qantas controls 80 per cent of the market between Australia and the US, which, to a large extent, is concentrated on the Sydney-Los Angeles route.
Boeing has also revised and upgraded from 430 to 580 the number of aircraft it considers will have to be made for Oceania in the 20 years from now until 2026.
It predicts there will be 28,600 orders for aircraft worldwide worth US2.6 trillion (A$2.9 trillion) by 2026 –JN
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