London — Airbus has raised its forecast for aircraft demand over the next 20 years as the company begins to recover from two years of late deliveries of its A320neo passenger jet. Aircraft demand has been driven mainly by strong economic growth in emerging markets as well as the need to replace older planes in mature western markets. Also on Friday, Airbus confirmed it was studying further development of the largest member of the A320 family. In June, Airbus said it was considering an A320 plane with a longer range to head off a potential Boeing mid-market rival. The European plane maker said it was raising its 20-year forecast for total aircraft deliveries by more than 7% to 37,400 jets, worth $5.8-trillion. That compares with 34,900 aircraft worth $5.3-trillion a year ago, partly as the result of a higher starting point as the industry absorbs another year of brisk growth in air travel. Booming 'small' jet demand Dominating the outlook is the market for "small" jets of up to 230 s...
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