PARIS (Reuters) - Boeing Co boosted its 20-year forecast for aircraft demand by 3.5 percent on Thursday, predicting "strong and resilient" growth as two out of every five newly built jets feed Asia's booming travel market.
The U.S. planemaker expects airlines and freight firms to take delivery of 38,050 jets worth $5.6 trillion by 2034, by which year more than 7 billion people will be flying.
Boeing issued its latest forecasts ahead of the industry's annual showcase, where jetmakers will be drumming up new business and gauging the reliability of their suppliers to keep pace with the record demand at the June 15-21 Paris Airshow.
For the same 20-year period, Boeing shaved its prediction for annual airline traffic growth to 4.9 percent from 5.0 percent, including a sharp downward revision for Russia, whose economy has been hit by falling oil prices.
Strong demand growth has pushed airliner production to record levels, driven by low-cost airlines and the rise of emerging markets.
Dominating production in terms of numbers of aircraft is the market for workhorse medium-haul jets like the Boeing 737 and Airbus A320, which carry 75 percent of all passengers.
Boeing said the market for this category would top $2.7 trillion in the next 20 years, with 26,730 jets rolling off the production lines.
It revised up its forecasts for wide-body, twin-engined jets like the Boeing 787 and Airbus A350 the manufacturers will be showing off next week.
But once again, it lowered its view of demand for two four-engined jets: the Airbus
The world's dominant planemakers compete fiercely for orders in most categories but disagree about the size of demand for the world's largest airplanes with seating for over 400 people.
Boeing predicted deliveries of 540 of the two jumbos in the next 20 years, down from 620 expected a year ago, and leaving little room for the A380 which is struggling for orders.
In its last forecast issued in 2014, Airbus remained far more optimistic about demand for the biggest jets, predicting some 1,500 deliveries of the A380 and Boeing 747 over 20 years.
The Boeing 747 has also been losing momentum, but analysts say its future broadly depends on sales of a freighter version.
Boeing maintained its long-range forecast for average annual cargo traffic growth at 4.7 percent, but said the market was strengthening and that this trend was expected to continue.
(Reporting by Tim Hepher; Editing by Andrew Callus)
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