OREANDA-NEWS. Several major aircraft manufacturers plan to increase production by 15–20% already in July 2021, Sergey Stepanov, CEO of the Russian titanium producer VSMPO-Avisma, said in an interview with RBC news agency. VSMPO-Avisma is the world’s largest supplier of titanium for Boeing and Airbus.

“There are aircraft manufacturers who plan to increase production by 15–20 % from July 2021. I don’t want to name these companies, but our clients told about such plans. We expect to place orders in the first quarter of 2021 for additional titanium,” Stepanov explained. He cited China as an example, where domestic air transportation has already recovered to pre-crisis levels. “If the vaccine [Against the coronavirus of a new type. – Ed.] allows this success to be repeated in nine months in other regions, then this is a pretty good prospect,” the top manager concluded.

In March–April 2020, air travel around the world decreased by 80 % due to the pandemic and related restrictions on the movement of people imposed by the governments of most countries. The largest aircraft manufacturers Airbus and Boeing announced billions of dollars of losses, staff cuts and reducing number of orders from suppliers.