Airbus ups estimate of aircraft need

Airbus has increased its 20-year production forecast by 5 percent. The company's latest Global Market Forecast cites a need for some 28,200 passenger and freighter aircraft of 100 seats or more between 2012 and 2031, worth nearly $4 trillion. Of those, more than 27,350 will be passenger aircraft valued at $ 3.7 trillion. Passenger traffic will grow at an average annual rate of 4.7 percent in the next 20 years and 10,350 aircraft will be replaced by new efficient models. By 2031 the world's passenger fleet will have expanded by 110 percent from slightly over 15,550 today to over 32,550. (Source: Airbus, Reuters, 09/04/12) Gulf Coast note: Airbus in July said it would build a $600 million A320 assembly line in Mobile, Ala., at Brookley Aeroplex. Previous Boeing prediction