SINGAPORE: Airbus CEO Fabrice Bregier speaks to the media during a press conference at the Singapore Airshow at the Changi exhibition centre in Singapore yesterday. — AFP

SINGAPORE: The chief executive of Airbus said yesterday that growth in airline passengers in Asia is likely to remain strong despite the current uncertainty about global economic growth prospects.

Speaking at the Singapore Airshow, Fabrice Bregier said that Airbus and its competitors are not facing a downturn in orders from airlines. Stock markets and oil have slumped since the beginning of the year, in a sign of investor anxiety about the health of the world economy. "I think it is simple and it is clear that there are tensions around the world. And so people try to project themselves into the future and impact on air traffic," he said. "As a matter of fact, we don't see it, our competitors don't see it, our customers don't see it. We've never been so healthy."

The company forecasts demand for 12,810 new airplanes in the Asia-Pacific area, valued at $2 trillion over the next 20 years. That represents 40 percent of forecast global demand for about 32,600 airplanes over the same period.

Passenger numbers in Asia are expected by Airbus to grow by 5.6 percent annually, with China forecast to post double digit growth. Bregier was presenting the manufacturer's latest outlook on the first day of the Singapore Airshow, which ends Feb. 21. More than 1,000 companies, including Airbus and Boeing are participants. The previous show in 2014 generated deals worth $32 billion.

John Leahy, an Airbus chief operating officer, said the manufacturer was not seeing any deferrals of jet orders in the region, whose middle class is driving growth in the airline industry.

"They fly for business, they have disposable income, they fly for pleasure, and they are the ones who are sitting in the seats of airliners around the world," he said. "There's a growing middle class in China. The middle class in Asia Pacific will be driving the world going forward."

Airbus adjusted its 2015 numbers, saying it had 1,080 net orders compared with the previously announced 1,036. It has a backlog of 6,831 orders worth $1 trillion at list prices, though customers usually negotiate discounts.

Boeing said Monday that it had no deferrals in Asia and forecasts demand for 3,750 new airplanes in Southeast Asia alone, valued at $550 billion over the next 20 years. Of the forecast demand, 76 percent will be for single-aisle aircraft such as the Boeing 737 and Airbus A320.

Order cancellation

Qatar Airways threatened to cancel an order for Pratt & Whitney engines for a fleet of Airbus narrow-body jets yesterday, saying the newly developed powerplants had "a lot of problems".

The Gulf airline has ordered 50 A320neo-family aircraft and was originally due to take the first delivery in December, but rejected the jet due to what it called an engine problem and the first jet went last month to Lufthansa instead. Asked at the Singapore Airshow to describe his concerns, Qatar Airways Chief Executive Akbar Al Baker said: "There are a lot of things wrong with A320neo, with the engines. So we have refused to accept those airplanes.

"Let me be very clear: it is not the fault of Airbus. Airbus has delivered all their part, and as you know, no airplane can fly without an engine. And they have huge issues with the engine," he said in a group interview.

"I don't want to get into the detail but Qatar Airways will not accept an aircraft with those engines unless they are very much corrected. Otherwise we have no alternative but to look at an alternate engine supply."

Pratt & Whitney competes with CFM International, co-owned by General Electric and France's Safran, to supply engines for the narrowbody Airbus jet family. Pratt & Whitney has acknowledged teething problems on the engine but says they do not affect its 15-percent fuel savings. "We will not cancel the A320neo order. Our relations with Airbus are very strong. We have full confidence in the neo program but yes, we could cancel the entire Pratt & Whitney order," Al Baker told reporters.

Al Baker, who has a record of criticizing manufacturers at air shows over the airline's exacting quality standards, said engines had been delivered without the desired performance.

"According to them, they're on the way to correct these issues, but I have no confidence unless I see it really happen."

Asked whether Qatar Airways had set a deadline for the problems to be resolved, he said, "Yes we have given them a deadline...Months". Pratt & Whitney officials could not immediately be reached for comment. In an interview with Reuters earlier, Pratt & Whitney President Bob Leduc gave further details of two problems which have affected engine startup times and faulty engine software messages, but said these were being resolved.

Pratt & Whitney is delivering according to the latest schedule, he said. Airbus and Pratt & Whitney officials said the schedule had been slowed in the first half of the year to ensure a smooth production rampup. Leduc said some 60-65 percent of the 200 Geared Turbofan engines that Pratt intends to build in 2016 would be delivered in the second half of the year. - Agencies