SAO JOSE DOS CAMPOS, Brazil, Feb. 12 (UPI) -- Brazilian plane maker Embraer plans to sell at least 1,500 regional jets in the Asia Pacific region over the next 20 years, a cumulative total of deals worth $70 billion at current list prices.
Embraer is proving to be exceptionally competitive in the regional jets market, where it has captured center-stage sidelining other passenger aircraft manufacturers in North America and Europe. The regional jets segment usually features aircraft of 70-130 seat capacity range, of which Embraer claims 80 percent share.
The Brazilian manufacturer says it has a 51 percent global market share in the regional jets category and has dominated 62 percent of deliveries over the last decade.
Embraer's forecast represents nearly 20 percent of the worldwide demand for the regional jets segment in the 20-year period. Only about 35 percent of the projected deliveries will be replacing aging aircraft and modernizing inventories in the Asia Pacific region, while 65 percent will represent expansion in regional passenger traffic, Embraer said in a statement.
Embraer said the Asia Pacific market is set to become "more affluent, competitive and liberal," and rising demand will further stimulate airlines to seek system efficiencies, brand differentiation and improved service levels.
The 70- to 130-seat jet category of aircraft being put into passenger services are expected to play a key role in supporting intra-regional development in the Asia Pacific region.
"Passenger traffic in the Asia Pacific region is mostly composed by secondary markets with low and medium demand densities of up to 300 passengers daily each way. Some 60 percent of those markets are not served nonstop, and around half of all markets served do not allow for same day return travel," Embraer Commercial Aviation President and Chief Executive Officer Paulo Cesar Silva said.
The company says the region's economic growth has altered its socio-demographic context, with a growing urban middle class able to undertake more discretionary spending and more frequent air travel.
A positive economic outlook and intraregional liberalization will drive air transport demand in the Asia Pacific region to increase 6 percent annually by 2032, led mainly by China and India.
The region will become the world's largest market, accounting for 34 percent of total revenue passenger kilometers, Embraer said.
Embraer's E-Jets family of narrow-body medium-range twin-engine jet airliners has logged more than 1,400 orders and more than 1,000 deliveries to date. The aircraft are in service with about 65 customers from 45 countries, Embraer says.
