The fleet of the future, or what we will fly in the Europe of tomorrow

<ns3:p>The constantly changing air traffic, whether it is its stable growth, which was observed until 2019, or the very dynamic changes observed in the time of the COVID-19 pandemic, entails significant changes in the entire air transport sector. One of them is undeniably a change in the fleet, both used and registered. This article is devoted to creating an overall forecast for the European fleet mix and is based on publicly available market data.As a starting point for the forecast served the outline of general characteristics of air traffic, as well as main characteristics of the European fleet. In the following sections, the market trends for the European fleet were analysed - manufacturers' forecasts, the World Airliner Census, behaviour of a few selected airlines and a few general market trends were studied.Presented analyses allowed for the determination of real trends that will be noticeable in the near future. Their proper description allowed for the creation of a coherent forecast of airliners in Europe in three selected time horizons. The article concludes with a summary that provides an overall overview of the European fleet of the future.This article was originally prepared in the first half of 2021 and some of the information and conclusions drawn from it may be out of date based on the current information, events and changes in the aviation market. The fact that the article is based solely on publicly available and free data should also be considered a limitation in the accuracy of the presented considerations.</ns3:p>