Airbus COO-customers, John Leahy said recently that the manufacturer may ramp up A320 family aircraft production to 40 per month as early as the end of 2010 or early 2011, a signal that the industry has some confidence in an impending economic recovery.

Leahy said that a ‘best case’ outlook saw a two per cent year-on-year drop in RPKs this year, four per cent growth next year and a six per cent increase in 2011, while a ‘worst case’ scenario featured a four per cent decline in 2009, static results in 2010 and the same six per cent increase the following year.

He also claimed that the A320 family will “stay in demand” for at least another decade, adding that only two per cent of the global A320 fleet is in storage compared to 19 per cent of the world’s B737 and MD-80s/90s.