Asia picks up aircraft financing slack

Financing for new aircraft orders remains robust as Asian financial institutions take up the slack left by Europe's debt crisis, the head of Airbus said. Thomas Enders, the aviation giant's chief executive, on Wednesday said there was "increasing appetite" from financial institutions in China, India and other Asian countries to fund aircraft purchases. Asia-based institutions participated in "almost 20 percent" of the funding involved in Airbus deliveries last year, which Enders said is likely to rise as European banks slow down on lending amid the continent's debt woes. "What is important is that all these institutions in Asia are not just working with the airlines from this region but on a global scale," Enders said at a news conference at the Singapore Airshow. "This is good news for us and good news particularly for the airlines," he said, adding it would ensure "a more diverse and steady source of funding." Asia Pacific accounted for half of the company's record orders -- or about $85 billion at list prices -- of 1,600 planes in 2011, it said. Releasing its latest forecasts, Airbus also said Asia Pacific will take delivery of 9,370 new aircraft in the next 20 years valued at $1.3 trillion. That will account for 34 percent of new planes with over 100 seats entering into service worldwide over that time, propelling Asia Pacific to overtake North America and Europe as the world's biggest aviation market, Airbus said. The region's passenger growth is forecast to rise by 5.9 percent a year over two decades, outpacing the projected global average of 4.8 percent, it added. "We are firmly anchored in this region. We are not re-orienting our business but we are focused on this region," Enders said. "Our business is not moving East, it has moved East, in Asia already."