Desire for flight means £2.6 trillion of airliners needed

Operators are expected to retire 12,400 old and less fuel-efficient jets in the intervening period as they seek to cut costs in the age of ever-rising fuel prices.

Asia is expected to be the biggest single customer for the new aircraft, taking 39pc of them, more than combined total of the next two biggest regions, Europe at 20pc and North America at 18pc.

The predictions come in Flying on Demand, Airbus’s global market forecast which analysed themes seen by 800 passenger airlines and 200 freight operators.

The trend of airlines wanting aircraft to grow larger is expected to continue, according Airbus. In 1993 the average number of seats on a single-aisle aircraft was 130, and this had risen to 155 by 2013. Over the next 20 years Airbus predicts a requirement for 9,300 widebody jets valued at $2.5 trillion. Some 7,800 of these new aircraft will be twin-aisle models with 250 to 400 seats and the remaining 1,500 will be very large aircraft with 400 or more seats.

The report also expects the number of “aviation mega-cities” - those with 10,000 or more international long-haul passengers a day - to almost double to 91 as economic growth in Asia, Latin America, Africa and the Middle East outstrips developed regions.

Currently there are 42 of these mega-cities, which see 800,000 long-haul passengers pass through them day, and 94pc of all long-haul traffic either originates, transits or terminates at them. By 2033, these hubs will carry 2.2m long-haul passengers a day and 99pc of all long-haul traffic.

“Aviation is growing impressively and our latest forecast confirms its long-term growth," said John Leahy, Airbus’s chief operating officer for customers. "While mature aviation regions such as Europe and North America will continue to grow, Asia will stand out along with emerging markets for dynamic development. This growth trend is confirmed by Chinese domestic traffic becoming the world’s number one aviation market within the next 10 years”.

By 2033 domestic flights in China will be the largest single passenger market, with 11.9pc of the of world traffic, and Asia-Pacific will be the largest region with 36pc of total traffic, more than North America and Europe combined.

Airbus's forecast echoes the one released by rival Boeing, which in July predicted the global aircraft would double in size over the next 20 years to a total of 42,180 jets worth $5.2 trillion, which would require 36,770 new aircraft.

Boeing broke down its prediction for new aircraft demand, forecasting 2,490 regional jets worth $100bn; 25,680 single-aisle aircraft worth $2.56 trillion; 4,520 small widebody airliners worth $1.14 trillion; 3,460 medium widebody jets worth $1.16 trillion; and 620 large widebody jets worth $240bn.

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