[ June 1, 2000 ]

UP TO 14,000 NEW REGIONAL AIRLINERS NEEDED OVER NEXT 20 YEARS, ACCORDING TO INDEPENDENT FORECAST

Washington, DC (June 1, 2000) Worldwide demand for 20-120 seat airliners – the fastest-growing segment of the market – will total almost 14,000 new aircraft from now through 2020, according to a new global forecast produced by Aviation Daily and BACK Aviation Solutions.

Deliveries of these "regional aircraft" – almost all of which will be jet-powered -- will outstrip those of larger commercial planes produced by Boeing Co. and Airbus Industrie. While Boeing and Airbus have introduced smaller versions of their existing models for the regional market, they must play catch-up with a trio of nimble planemakers, Bombardier of Canada, Brazil’s Embraer and Fairchild Dornier of the U.S. and Germany, who together have booked about 2,000 orders and options.

Among other findings of the four-volume World Fleet Forecast for 20-120 Seat Aircraft:

• The U.S. will account for nearly half of the regional aircraft deliveries over the next 20 years, but deliveries to European carriers will be significant and will grow faster.

• Labor agreements between airlines and their pilots will restrict the number and size of regional aircraft deployments early in the period, but those labor restrictions will give way to growing demand for jet service at non-hub airports.

• Turboprops will remain in the smaller end of the 20-120 seat fleet, but demand for new propeller-driven commercial aircraft will decline steeply and be met by the existing fleet.

The World Fleet Forecast for 20-120 Seat Aircraft, which is now available, includes a comprehensive World Outlook, augmented by separate regional forecasts for North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific. These are the largest, most comprehensive and most timely forecasts available from a source unrelated to any aircraft makers or airlines.

Aviation Daily, founded in 1939, is the premiere source of business and policy intelligence for commercial aviation. Aviation Daily is a service of the Aviation Week division of The McGraw-Hill Companies, which also produces Aviation Week & Space Technology, World Aviation Directory and AviationNow.com, the business-to-business Internet portal for the worldwide aviation and aerospace community.

BACK Aviation Solutions is comprised of BACK Information Services, the premier provider of aviation data, and the aviation consultancy, AvSolutions.

For more information contact:
Tulinda Larsen
BACK Aviation Solutions
Vice President, Business Development
703-330-0461
tlarsen@backaviation.com