AIRSHOW - Boeing sees passenger jet demand pick up in 2012

By Tim Hepher and Martina Fuchs

DUBAI (Reuters) - Boeing sees signs of recovery in the freighter market but plane makers face two more lean years before passenger jet demand picks up in 2012, a top executive said on Sunday.

"Our view is that we are already starting to see some improvement in terms of the freighter market," Boeing Commercial Airplanes Chief Executive Jim Albaugh told Reuters Television in an interview at the Dubai airshow.

"Our sense is that 2012 will start the uptick again (in passenger jet demand) and we should start seeing more orders coming back in 2013 and 2014."

Albaugh said a rebound in passenger jet demand would be softened to some extent by the return of airplanes that have been parked in the desert during the recent downturn.

"There will be new airplanes as well as airplanes that are coming back into the industry," he said.

He did not expect any problems in reaching Boeing's target of delivering 480 to 485 aircraft in 2009 despite airline cash problems, citing the strength of Boeing's order book.

"We are going to deliver around 480 airplanes this year and I think we will be flat next year," he said.

He did not expect Boeing, the No. 2 plane maker behind EADS unit Airbus, would need to cut production of single-aisle aircraft to balance demand as some analysts have predicted.