TOKYO: The Asia-Pacific region is expected to become the biggest aviation market in the world within about a decade, a senior official at US airplane manufacturer Boeing said on Tuesday.

As a result of the rapid growth of emerging markets, the centre of the aviation industry is shifting from North America towards Asia, said Randy Tinseth, Boeing's vice president in charge of marketing.

"Today the world's largest market is the North American market," he told reporters in Tokyo.

"But this is a mature and slow-growing market, and as we look towards the future in about 10 to 12 years' time, the Asia-Pacific ... will be the biggest marketplace in the world," he said.

Japanese airlines are among the most loyal customers of Boeing, which has tapped some of the Asian economic power's major industrial companies to take part in production of its 787 Dreamliner

But Boeing has been forced to repeatedly delay delivery of the next-generation airliner due to production problems.

Japan Airlines, Asia's largest carrier, said earlier this month that it expected to receive its first Dreamliner in October 2009, more than a year late.

All Nippon Airways, the launch customer for Dreamliner, expects to get its first delivery of the airplane in August 2009, 15 months behind schedule.

Boeing has staked its future on the Dreamliner, but an ongoing strike by machinists at the company poses a risk of possible further delivery delays.

Boeing officials said on Tuesday that they would reassess the delivery schedule for Japanese carriers after the strike ends. - AFP/de