KUALA LUMPUR: South-East Asia must ensure that its aviation safety systems keep pace with a commercial aircraft fleet expected to more than treble to over 5,200 planes by 2045, says a senior Boeing executive.
The Boeing Company senior managing director for Global Strategic Initiatives, Malcom An, said the region currently has about 1,500 commercial aircraft in operation, with rapid growth bringing both opportunities and greater safety challenges.
"What happens when the South-East Asia fleet grows from the 1,500 commercial airplanes flying today to over 5,200 airplanes flying in the system by 2045?" he said in his keynote address at the Malaysia Aviation Safety Seminar 2026 (MASS'26) here on Thursday (Sept 10).
An said growing airport congestion and increasingly unpredictable weather patterns were among the challenges facing the industry.
He said data continued to show that runway excursions and collisions remained a top safety issue both in the region and globally.
"We’re seeing more congestion at airports. We’re seeing weather patterns becoming more unpredictable," he said.
An said the rapid expansion would also require more highly-trained aviation professionals, with Boeing forecasting that South-East Asia would need 258,000 new pilots, cabin crew and technicians over the next 20 years.
Passenger traffic in the region is expected to grow by 7% annually, underpinned by annual economic growth of 4.1%, while South-East Asia is projected to require 4,885 new aircraft over the next two decades.
Against this backdrop, An said Boeing was expanding its aviation safety cooperation across the Asia-Pacific, particularly in South-East Asia.
This includes enhanced training for aviation professionals, with thousands of engineers, pilots and technicians receiving training through customised seminars, safety and operational workshops, and leadership development programmes.
He said Boeing is also expanding cooperation in air traffic management and infrastructure, with airport and airspace projects being carried out in Malaysia, Vietnam and Indonesia.
An said the work includes technical assistance in implementing new communication and surveillance technologies to enhance safety.
Digital tools and modelling, he said, are also increasingly being used to simulate potential changes before they are implemented, including work undertaken at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) in partnership with the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM).
"Digital models help us make better-informed decisions before implementing possible changes and improve the quality of options for the system as a whole," An said.
He added that partnerships across the aviation ecosystem – involving airlines, regulators, airports, service providers and suppliers – would be crucial as the industry expands.
He added that stronger cooperation was needed to address major safety challenges facing the industry.
