Leaving the rest of the world in its jetstream

CNN reports from the Asian Aerospace Show in Hong Kong on why Asia leads the charge in global airline growth

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With Asia leading global airline growth, the commercial aircraft business is taking off in the region. CNN's Eunice Yoon reports from the Asian Aerospace Show in Hong Kong.

Asia is leading the charge in global airline growth, as was apparent at the Asian Aerospace Show in Hong Kong. Despite turnout down more than 30 percent as a result of the global economic downturn, those in the industry had plenty to smile about.

With China leading the way, it's not difficult to see why Asia's airline industry is taking off. According to the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), Chinese air traffic is up 16.4 percent in the first half of 2009. AirAsia is also set to launch another route to China in October.

At the Asian Aeropace Show, COMAC -- a unit of the state-owned Aviation Industry Corp of China -- unveiled the design of what will be its largest locally-made commercial aircraft, a single-aisle C919 with up to 190 seats. It be ready in 2016.

Christopher Buckley, Executive Vice President of Airbus had this to say about COMAC, "No doubt COMAC will be able to compete with us in years to come."

So with new routes, new planes, and even potential takeovers such as Air China looking to increase it's stake in Hong Kong airline Cathay Pacific, where will the Asian airline market be in 10 years? Robert Laird, Senior Vice President of Boeing is under no illusions, "In the next decade it (Asia) will be the largest and most important market for aviation in the world."

Not bad considering the airline industry as a whole is currently facing a global loss of US$10 billion for 2009.

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About the author: Chris Anderson is the Associate Editor of CNNGo. He manages the regional content, writes (when he has time,) and manages the main page.