中銀航空租賃下88億美元飛機訂單
BOC Aviation, the aircraft leasing subsidiary of Bank of China, has made its biggest single order for aircraft yet with the purchase of 82 Boeing jets for $8.8bn, half of which will be used by customers in the booming market for Asian air travel, writes Jeremy Grant in Singapore.
中國銀行(BoC)旗下飛機租賃子公司——中銀航空租賃(BoC Aviation)下了迄今最大一筆飛機訂單，以88億美元採購82架波音(Boeing)客機，半數客機將服務於蓬勃發展的亞洲航空旅行市場的客戶。
Asia will account for almost 32 per cent of global passenger traffic by 2017, from 28 per cent in 2012, according to the International Air Transport Association.
國際航空運輸協會(IATA)表示，到2017年，亞洲佔全球客運流量的比例將由2013年的28%上升到32%。By contrast, North America’s and Europe’s shares will continue to decline, from 26 per cent and 24 per cent respectively to 24 per cent and 23 per cent.
相比之下，北美和歐洲的份額將持續下降，北美由26%降至24%，歐洲由24%降至23%。
The latest order of Boeing aircraft will be delivered from 2016 to 2021 and is made up of 50 single-aisle 737 Max 8 aircraft, and 30 737-800 aircraft. Both have a range of up to six hours and would be used typically on a route from Singapore to Mumbai.
這筆最新波音訂單的飛機將於2016年至2021年交付，其中包含50架單過道的波音737 Max 8、以及30架波音737-800。這兩種客機的航行時間均達6小時，將主要用於新加坡至孟買航線。Robert Martin, chief executive of Singapore-based BOC Aviation, said the Boeing orders come in addition to 118 Airbus aircraft ordered over the past 18 months.
中銀航空租賃總部設在新加坡，首席執行官馬銳博(Robert Martin)表示，該公司達成波音訂單的同時，在過去18個月裏已訂購了118架空客(Airbus)客機。“We expect that probably half of our deliveries will go to Asia over next seven years, with the rest US and Europe, generally more for replacement [of older aircraft] than for growth. For Asia it’s a certain amount for replacement but more for growth,” he said.
他說：“我們預計，未來7年我們獲得交貨的客機中，很可能會有一半交付給亞洲使用，其餘部分將交付給美國和歐洲，美歐主要是置換（舊客機）而不是增加新客機。至於亞洲，一部分用於置換舊客機，更多是爲了增加新客機。”Boeing expects demand for 40 per cent of its new aircraft deliveries in the next 20 years to come from the Asia Pacific region, where a growing middle class of people who can afford to fly for the first time is driving record aircraft orders, many from low-cost carriers (LCCs) such as Lion Air of Indonesia.
波音預計，對其未來20年交付的新客機的需求，將有40%來自亞太地區；在亞太地區，第一次有能力坐飛機旅行的中產階層人數的增加正在推動創紀錄的飛機訂單，許多訂單來自低成本航空公司，比如印尼的獅航(Lion Air)。Boston Consulting Group estimates that 1bn people in Asia will have annual earnings of at least $15,000 by 2030, and will therefore be able to afford to fly.
波士頓諮詢公司(BCG)估計，到2030年，亞洲將有10億人口的年收入達到至少1.5萬美元，因而將有能力乘飛機旅行。
