Asia travel looks up, pace of plane orders stepping up

Airlines across Asia are stepping up the pace of plane orders as the region's booming economy spurs demand for air travel, making it the prime battleground for Boeing Co. and Airbus SAS.

A surge in budget airlines and flag carriers' plans to overhaul aging fleets are driving demand for new planes in Asia, where 800 jets or more are expected to be sold in the next decade.

That number could rise if countries, especially India and China, speed up the modernization of their airports and the construction of new ones. Boeing lost several deals to Airbus last year but bounced back last month, winning two major orders totaling up to $13 billion from the national carriers of Canada and India.

"Asia will drive the demand for new planes over the next two decades.

India, therefore, is a centerpiece in our growth strategy," Boeing's senior vice president of sales, Dinesh Keskar, said after state-owned Air India decided to buy 50 new planes from the U.S. maker of aircraft.

Boeing estimates India's airlines will buy planes worth $35 billion within 20 years. Air India's order of $6.8 billion was "a major win," Keskar said, adding that it may influence decisions by the country's private airlines, recently allowed to fly overseas.

"The competition is very much alive. It is going to be fierce," said Peter Harbison at the Sydney, Australia-based Center for Asia Pacific Aviation.

Boeing is betting on its newest offering, the 787 Dreamliner, to be available for delivery in 2008. The midsize, long-range plane, which seats 200 to 300 people, can fly non-stop between Beijing and London and serve efficiently on regional routes such as Sydney to Bombay.

Airbus plans a rival, A350, but it won't be available until 2010.

Associated Press