SINGAPORE: Airbus SAS, the world’s biggest maker of commercial aircraft, raised its forecast for commercial-jet demand in Asia as economic growth in China and India makes air travel affordable for more people.

The company forecasts that Asian airlines will buy about 8,000 planes worth $1.2 trillion over 20 years, compared with an earlier forecast for 7,672 aircraft, it said in a statement at Singapore’s air show today. The forecast is for aircraft with more than 100 seats.

Air travel has surged in China and India, home to a combined 2.6 billion people, because of infrastructure investments, market liberalization and rising wages. Air travel demand is also starting to gather pace worldwide because of a global economic rebound that may enable carriers to cut their losses by half this year.

Airlines globally are expected to post combined losses totaling $5.6 billion in 2010, about half of the estimated $11 billion deficit last year, according to the International Air Transport Association.

Discount airlines are gaining market share from flag carriers in Asia Pacific as they add capacity and lure travelers with cheap tickets. Low-fare airlines accounted for 19.1% of the passenger traffic at Singapore’s Changi airport last year, compared with 12.3% in 2008, according to airport data.

Budget Carrier Orders

Tiger Airways Ltd., the budget carrier part-owned by Singapore Airlines Ltd., on Jan. 12 said it will accelerate deliveries for five Airbus aircraft. Jetstar, the discount carrier owned by Australia’s Qantas Airways Ltd., plans to increase its fleet to 100 planes by 2013 from 60 currently, it said at a presentation in Singapore last week.

“There are not a lot of airlines out there ordering planes right now and the only ones are probably the low-cost carriers,” said Peter Harbison, managing director at the Sydney-based Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation. “There’s also a massive backlog of orders because we had two years of huge orders in 2007 and 2008.”