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Boeing Sees Jump in Latin America Sales
SEATTLE (AP) December 4,
2005
—
Boeing expects to sell 1,600 commercial jets in Latin America in
the next 20 years, making it the company's second-biggest growth market after
China, a senior Boeing executive said Thursday.
Boeing's sales in the region will probably expand 7.9
percent a year in the next two decades, said John Wojick, Boeing's vice
president for sales in America and the Caribbean.
"The region's growth will only be second to China,"
Wojick told Dow Jones Newswires during a visit to the Colombian capital of
Bogota to seek potential buyers.
The U.S. airplane manufacturer has secured 68 firm
orders from Latin American countries so far this year, up from 34 in 2004,
Wojick said.
Ray Neidl, a New York-based airline industry analyst
with Calyon Securities Inc., shared Wojick's optimism about airline growth
prospects in Latin America.
"There are a couple of strong airlines in the region
with very high growth," he said. "These efficient companies, such as Brazilian
GOL, are stimulating traffic with lower rates and improved service."
Greater economic stability in Latin America is fueling
demand, with middle-class travelers increasingly taking to the skies in the
region's larger countries, Neidl said. Even though business travelers still make
up 70 percent of customers, great potential exists for leisure traffic, he
added.
Boeing, however, is expected to
face stiff competition from European archrival Airbus, which has secured orders
from Chile's Lan Airlines SA, Brazil's TAM and Central America carrier Grupo
TACA, among others.
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