LONDON (Reuters) - Airbus <AIR.PA> on Wednesday revised up forecasts for jetliner demand over the next 20 years led by growth in Asia, despite the industry's short-term concerns over global trade tensions.
The European planemaker said the world's fleet of passenger jets and freighters would more than double to 47,680 aircraft by 2038.
That is slightly less than the size of the future fleet Airbus had anticipated in a comparable forecast a year ago, as airlines squeeze more productivity out of their aircraft.
But the demand for new jets needed to reach that total has been revised upwards because Airbus believes airlines will replace a greater proportion of jets than previously thought.
Airbus said it now expects airlines and leasing companies to take delivery of 39,210 new passenger jets and freighters over the next two decades compared to 37,389 previously forecast.
Airbus however shaved its forecast for average 20-year traffic growth to 4.3% a year from 4.4% in its previous report.
(Reporting by Tim Hepher, editing by Richard Lough)
