Air China needs 400 planes in next five to six years

Air China expects to expand its fleet by 400 planes in the next five to six years to meet soaring travel demand at home, a company official said yesterday.

Senior vice president He Li, speaking on the sidelines of the Singapore Airshow, said China's airline traffic was expected to exceed 700 million passengers within 10 years and double to 1.5 billion in 20 years' time.

"For five or six years, I think our company should need about 400 aircraft," he was quoted as saying by Dow Jones Newswires.

He said the airline was not expecting to sign any deals to buy new planes during the show, which ends on Sunday.

Beijing-based Air China's company website said the carrier has more than 220 planes in its fleet.

European aircraft maker Airbus said earlier yesterday that airlines in the Asia-Pacific region would purchase some 8,000 new passenger and cargo planes worth $1.2 trillion from 2009 to 2028.

China in particular is expected to fuel much of the region's demand.

It has eclipsed Japan over the past decade as Asia's largest domestic market, with 1,400 aircraft compared with Japan's 540, and 5.7 million weekly seats against 2.6 million in Japan, the International Air Transport Association said on Monday.