By Abhijith Ganapavaram

Feb 6 (Reuters) - Boeing ( BA ) said on Thursday it

expects Indian and South Asian airlines will add 2,835

commercial aircraft to their fleet over the next 20 years, a

four-fold increase over current levels, as a rising middle class

and healthy economic growth spur travel.

The U.S. planemaker's previous rolling 20-year forecast that

it issued last year was for 2,705 jets.

"People will have greater access to air travel, and the

region's airlines will require a modern fuel-efficient fleet to

meet increased demand over the next two decades," said Ashwin

Naidu, Boeing's ( BA ) managing director of commercial marketing for

India and South Asia.

The planemaker estimated that carriers in the two regions

will take delivery of 2,445 single-aisle aircraft, representing

roughly nine out of ten deliveries, while widebody fleet size

will quadruple after adding 370 aircraft.

It also expects the region's air traffic will grow more than

7% annually through 2043.

India is the third-largest domestic aviation market in the

world after the U.S. and China and it is also the

fastest-growing market, with IndiGo and Air India the

top two airlines.

Indian airlines have about 1,800 aircraft on order with

global planemakers and are scheduled to take delivery of 130

jets this year, according to data from UK-based Cirium Ascend.

But airlines worldwide are struggling to procure jets on

time as supply chain issues pressure production at Boeing ( BA ) and

Airbus. Order books at both planemakers are also sold out for

several years of production.

Boeing's ( BA ) deliveries dropped in 2024 to the lowest level

since the COVID-19 pandemic in part due to a crippling strike,

but the planemaker said last month it was making progress on

increasing plane production. Airbus, meanwhile, fell

fractionally short of its 2024 target.

Demand for pilots, cabin crew and technicians will also

quadruple to 129,000 over the next 20 years, Boeing ( BA ) added on

Thursday.