Avolon sees a large market for mid-sized Boeing and Airbus aircraft: between 3,500 and 4,000 in potential sales, particularly as Chinese and Indian consumers start to stretch their wings, Slattery said. Boeing officials have predicted about 4,000.<\/p>\n

Boeing has revealed few details about its first all-new jetliner since the 787 Dreamliner. The general plan is for a two-aircraft family designed to overlap the largest single-aisle planes and smallest wide-body models. The twin-aisle planes would seat between 220 and 270 passengers, Randy Tinseth, a Boeing vice president for commercial marketing, said Monday.<\/p>\n

As Chicago-based Boeing worked with about 50 customers around the world to hone its design, the large U.S. network carriers indicated belly cargo isn\u2019t a high priority. That freed Boeing to consider a frame that analysts have described as \u201covoid,\u201d pinched on the sides to provide for a roomier passenger cabin and smaller cargo hold.<\/p>\n

A decision to launch the 797 may come later this year, said John Plueger, CEO of Air Lease Corp., with Boeing moving ahead with the smaller cargo bay.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I read the Boeing tea leaves right, I think Boeing has already made a decision not to maximize freight and cargo in that airplane,\u201d Plueger said in an interview. \u201cAnd that decision has been reinforced to them by most major customers, including the big three in the U.S., that have expressed strong interest in the NMA.\u201d<\/p>\n

The plane, if it is launched, would emerge at a time when the aviation market is tilting toward rapidly growing airlines in China and other Asia-Pacific countries. The growth is a product of an expanding middle class that\u2019s beginning to seek travel by air for the first time.<\/p>\n

Of the 1,350 unique new-city pairs launched worldwide last year, about 600 were in Asia, including roughly 400 in China, Slattery said. Within the domestic market served by U.S. carriers, only 61 new city routes were created.<\/p>\n