MKS sports with flight number LH732, lands smoothly on the runway of Shanghai Pudong International Airport and glides through the water gate on April 18, marking the 30th anniversary of the launch of the Shanghai-Frankfurt route. Photo: Courtesy of Lufthansa" src="https://www.globaltimes.cn/Portals/0/attachment/2024/2024-04-11/f3bf7af9-ab91-42a0-bdaf-e5f7a7c44e86.jpeg" />

A Lufthansa Boeing 747-400, with flight number LH732, lands smoothly on the runway of Shanghai Pudong International Airport and glides through the water gate on April 18, marking the 30th anniversary of the launch of the Shanghai-Frankfurt route. Photo: Courtesy of Lufthansa

China will more than double its commercial airplane fleet by 2043 as its aviation industry expands and modernizes to meet growing demand for passenger and cargo air services, Boeing said on Tuesday, highlighting that the recovery of Chinese economy is the driving force behind it.

The report came amid US National Security Advisor Jack Sullivan's visit to China. Experts said that such high demand shows a strong connection between China and the US, defying the so-called "de-coupling" rhetoric that has been hyped by some Western politicians.

China will need 8,830 new planes over the next 20 years, about 60 percent for growth and 40 percent replacing older jets with more fuel-efficient models, Boeing's 2024 Commercial Market Outlook said. 

Boeing also said that air travel in China is set to become the world's largest by volume, driving growth in the single-aisle fleet, which accounts for more than three-quarters of deliveries.

The outlook is the company's long-term forecast of demand for commercial airplanes and related services.

China's commercial aviation market for passengers and cargo continues to expand, driven by economic growth and airlines building their in-country networks, Darren Hulst, Boeing vice president of commercial marketing, told a press conference held in Beijing.

"In my view, China has strong projected long-term economic growth and China has a rapidly growing middle-class, with households that are a huge contributor to incremental traffic demand and a massive population base to continue to drive demand for air travel," he said. 

The strong demand for planes shows the big potential of the Chinese aviation industry, as China is the world's second-largest civil aviation transportation market and the world's largest civil aircraft sales market, Lin Zhijie, an independent market watcher, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

Information shared with the Global Times showed that Boeing is the largest customer of China's aviation manufacturing industry with more than 10,000 Boeing airplanes flying with China-made parts. 

China's civil aviation transport scale hit a monthly record high in July as air passenger and cargo traffic volumes continued to increase.