Boeing: India needs jets worth $22 billion over 20 years NEW DELHI, India (Reuters) =97 India will need 290 new jet airliners worth= =20 $22 billion over the next 20 years to meet growing air travel demand,=20 Boeing Co, the world's top commercial aircraft maker, forecast on Friday.=20 Passenger air traffic to, from and within southwest Asia, which is=20 dominated by India, will grow an average 6.7% annually over the next two=20 decades, said Dinesh Keskar, president of Boeing Aircraft Trading. "The=20 traffic increase within the region will average 8.7%, one of the world's=20 highest growth rates," Keskar told a news conference late on Thursday. Asia= =20 and India have been less affected than elsewhere by the downturn in=20 international air travel following the September 11, 2001 attacks in the=20 United States, he said. The volume of passenger traffic in 2002 in these=20 two regions rose about two% from 2000, he said. The aviation giant, whose=20 planes account for 65% of state-owned Air-India's fleet, is pitching to=20 sell the long-haul carrier a long-range version of the Boeing 777-200 over= =20 the Airbus A340-300. Air-India plans to buy 17 of these medium-capacity aircraft to modernise=20 its fleet. Earlier this year, Boeing lost to Airbus a $2.1 contract for 43= =20 planes from state-owned Indian Airlines, the country's largest domestic=20 carrier, which flies only Airbus aircraft. But Indian Airlines' subsidiary, Alliance Air, and the jet-engined fleets=20 of other Indian domestic air carriers, Jet Airways and Air Sahara fly only= =20 Boeing jets. India, the world's 12th largest economy and the second most=20 populous nation, has a large expatriate population in the United States,=20 Britain and the Middle East, which drives air travel from and to India. But= =20 even though the market is growing, domestic air travel continues to be=20 restricted by fares that are steep in comparison to incomes. Keskar said=20 international air travel was gradually increasing after the sharp downturn= =20 following the September 11, 2001, attacks in the United States, but the=20 volume of passenger traffic was still lower than in 2000. He forecast=20 international airlines would return to profit in late 2003 and 2004, when=20 he expected them to begin ordering new planes again. The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site: Roj (Roger James) *************************************************** escape email mailto:ejames@escape.ca Trinbago site: http://www.tntisland.com CBC Website http://www.tntisland.com/caribbeanbrassconnection/ The Trinbago Site of the Week: (TnT News) http://www.tntmirror.com/ (TnT News) courtesy of Roj Trinbago Website & TnT Web Directory Roj's Trinbago Website: http://www.tntisland.com TnT Web Directory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************