(Bloomberg) -- AerCap Holdings NV, the world's largest aircraft leasing firm, is “very optimistic” people will travel in large numbers once borders open up and believes that will apply equally to Southeast Asia, which is currently lagging the rest of the world, according to Chief Executive Officer Gus Kelly.
Travel in the U.S. is already back to around 80% of pre-pandemic levels and in Brazil and South America, that figure was about 90% before Christmas, “so the rest of the world is moving on,” Kelly said in an interview from Bangkok with Bloomberg TV Thursday.
China, which is still adhering to a Covid-zero policy, is vital for tourism in Southeast Asia, Kelly said, noting that markets like Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines won't be able to bounce back until residents in the world's second-largest economy are free to travel internationally again.
Read more: Tourists Returning to Thailand Find Closed Bars, Empty Streets
He added that China's domestic market has over the course of Covid been “extremely strong” and said he expects Boeing Co.'s 737 Max to return to commercial service this year.
Asked whether Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China, the nation's home-grown jet manufacturer also known as Comac, will ever be able to compete with Boeing and Airbus SE on a global scale with a family of aircraft types, Kelly said it was possible, but would take a very long time.
“Aircraft manufacturing is one of the most challenging engineering tasks humans face. It will take time, but I do believe China will get there,” he said.
As well as being the largest aircraft leasing firm, AerCap is also the world's biggest buyer of aircraft.
Kelly was in Bangkok to launch an education initiative to support the aviation industry in Asia at the city's Chulalongkorn University.
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