European multinational aerospace corporation Airbus said on Wednesday the freighter aircraft fleet will more than double from today's 23,000 to almost 48,000 in 20 years, with air traffic growing at 4.3% annually. This change will result in a need for 5.5 lakh new pilots and 6.4 lakh new technicians. It also reportedly said the air traffic has more than doubled since 2000.

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'Air traffic has more than doubled since 2000:' Airbus

The air traffic is increasingly playing a key role in connecting large population centres, particularly in emerging markets where the propensity to travel is among the world's highest as cost or locations where alternatives impossible. About a quarter of the world's urban population is responsible for more than a quarter of global GDP, which will drive Aviation Megacities to power global aviation network. According to the 'Aviation Megacities' model, which bases its predictions on the requirement on wealthy people travelling between large cities, emerging markets such as Asia-Pacific will be a key growth driver.

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"The four per cent annual growth reflects the resilient nature of aviation, weathering short term economic shocks and geopolitical disturbances. Economies thrive on air transportation. People and goods want to connect," Christian Scherer, Airbus Chief Commercial Officer and Head of Airbus International reportedly said.

"Globally, commercial aviation stimulates GDP growth and supports 6.5 crore livelihoods, demonstrating the immense benefits our business brings to all societies and global trade," Christian Scherer reportedly said.

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Fuel-efficient aircraft will reduce carbon footprint: Airbus Chief Commercial Officer

Superior quality fuel-efficiency is another factor, for which the demands are increasing to replace existing less fuel-efficient aircraft. He further added that by updating fleets with the latest-generation fuel-efficient aircrafts such as A220, A320 neo Family, the A330neo and the A350, Airbus believes it will largely contribute to reduce their carbon footprint by 2020. North America and Asia will also fuel growth with carriers in the Far East taking delivery of a total of 725 aircraft while North America taking on 949.

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