PARIS (AP) -- European aircraft manufacturer Airbus says it expects the world's passenger fleet to more than double in the next 20 years in order to keep up with the demands of an increasingly wealthy population in the developing world.
The assessment, released Monday, predicts strong growth for the industry despite the stagnation seen elsewhere in the global economy.
Airbus forecast that the world will need 27,800 new planes by 2030. About a third of those would replace old planes, so it expects the passenger fleet to more than double to 31,500 aircraft.
That's an addition of $3.5 trillion worth of planes.
Much of the increase in traffic is expected to happen in Asia, particularly on domestic flights within India and China.
