Airbus strengthened further its market position in Asia Pacific in 2015, winning 421 net orders from 17 airlines and lessors in the region during the year. This represented 39 per cent of the company’s net order intake in 2015 for 1,080 aircraft.

In addition, the manufacturer delivered 282 new aircraft to 40 operators across the region over the twelve month period, either directly or via leasing companies. This was 44 per cent of the company’s total output of 635 aircraft during the year, reflecting the importance of the region to the manufacturer.

The regional results were announced today by Fabrice Brégier, Airbus President and CEO and John Leahy, Chief Operating Officer, Customers on the opening of the Singapore Air Show.

“The Asia-Pacific region has traditionally been one of our strongest markets,” said Fabrice Brégier. “In recent years we have consolidated our position with our complete range of modern and efficient products. We expect this trend to continue in the coming years, especially in the widebody market where the A350 XWB is setting new standards in the 300-400 seat category.”

Looking to the future, Airbus expects the Asia-Pacific region to continue to lead demand for new aircraft over the next 20 year period. Presenting the company’s latest forecast for the region, John Leahy said that an annual increase in passenger traffic of 5.6 per cent would contribute to a requirement for some 12,800 new aircraft valued at US$2 trillion. This represents 40 per cent of global demand for 32,600 aircraft over the next 20 years and includes almost half of all widebody deliveries worldwide and over a third of all single aisle aircraft.

“Asia-Pacific will continue to experience stronger growth than any other world region as more people fly more often,” said Leahy. “Airbus will be especially well placed to respond to this demand in every size category. From 100 to over 500 seats, and for everything from short regional flights to the world’s longest commercial services, we have the right products to meet the needs of airlines in this fast-growing market.”

Over the past 10 years Airbus has recorded the leading share of sales in the Asia-Pacific region in both the single aisle and widebody markets. This has seen the A320 Family account for 64 per cent of net orders in the single aisle category, while the Airbus widebody aircraft, the A330, A350 XWB and A380 have together won 56 per cent of orders during this timeframe.

The complete Airbus product line comprises the best-selling A320 Family in the single aisle market, the popular A330 and all-new A350 XWB in the mid-size widebody category and the flagship A380 in the very large aircraft segment. In the freight market Airbus currently offers the new-build A330-200F and the A330 Passenger-to-Freighter (A330P2F) programme.