China's annual air traffic is expected to rise 7.6 percent in the next two decades, Boeing Company, China's leading provider of passenger planes, said in the Asian Aerospace Expo and Congress held in Hong Kong Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Asia Pacific region's air travel growth would be 6.8 percent. The two figures both exceed the world average growth rate of air traffic of 5.3 percent.

Vice president of marketing for Boeing Commercial Airplanes Randy Tinseth said in a news briefing that the demand is driven by Asia Pacific area's rising tourism, which will account for 44 percent of the world's total tourism in 20 years, up from about 34 percent now. "This is sweet music to an airplane manufacturer's ears."

The rosy outlook is not limited to growth in the passenger service as the world air cargo traffic will also triple over the next 20 years, according to Jim Edgar, the regional director of cargo marketing for Boeing.

He expects the world's air cargo traffic to grow at an annual rate of 5.9 percent, and Asia will continue to be at the forefront of the air cargo industry by rising 6.8 percent in 20 years.

Edgar said China represents 40 percent of the trans-Pacific cargo market, and Hong Kong is a gateway for air cargo connecting China with the world. "This area stands to benefit greatly from future increases in air cargo traffic."

Tinseth said that rising passenger and cargo traffic is creating pressure for fleet growth. Global airlines will need 30,900 new passenger and freighter airplanes through 2030, valued at 3.6 trillion U.S. dollars. Forty-four percent of these aircraft will replace older, less-efficient airplanes, while 56 percent will account for new aircraft needed to meet air traffic growth, Tinseth said.

He expects the world fleet to double from 18,890 to 36,300 airplanes during the span. "The near doubling of the world fleet size is an indicator that airlines will not only plan for growth, but also take the economically rational step of modernizing their fleets as a hedge against high and unpredictable oil prices."

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