The US plane maker raised its projected sales of commercial aircraft by $200m to $2.8 trillion (£1.4 trillion) in the next two decades.
Regional, single-aisle and twin-aisle jets for non-stop routes would prove more popular than expected, it said.
It scaled down the number of jumbos, of more than 400 passengers, it will sell.
Boeing now expects to sell 960 of the bigger craft, down from the 990 it set out in last year's forecast.
'Continued trend'
Airlines needed to respond to the true needs of passengers, said Randy Tinseth, Boeing's vice-president of marketing.
"Airlines have accommodated air travel by adding more frequencies and non-stop's, and what's most important for us is that we've seen this trend for the last 20 to 25 years, and we expect this trend to continue into the future," he said.
Passenger numbers would rise about 5% a year while cargo traffic would increase 6.1%, Boeing said.
Emerging markets are crucial for future sales, Boeing said, with about one-third of the demand coming from the Asia-Pacific region.
It sees flexibility as the key to success in the aviation market. It is banking on its smaller, slimmer 787 plane.
It predicts the plane, due to come into service next year, will steal a march on Airbus.
Twin-engined but with a long range, it will be able to fly direct to far more of the world's airports.
That means passengers will not need to make a connecting flight first to travel long distance.
Airbus is thought to be about five years from releasing its medium-sized rival, the A350 XWB.
But Boeing expects less demand for jumbos than Airbus, which has invested heavily in its 555-seat, delayed A380 superjumbo, due from October.