Airbus to deliver first Made-in-India C-295 aircraft in Q3 2026
Airbus will deliver the first Made-in-India C-295 military transport aircraft in Q3 2026, marking a major milestone in domestic aerospace manufacturing. The company projects India’s commercial aircraft fleet to triple to 2,250 aircraft over the next decade.
Hyderabad: Airbus, that has 72 percent market share in India’s civil aviation, will deliver the first made in India Airbus C-295, a twin-engine medium tactical transport aircraft, in the third quarter of 2026.
“We will be building an entire aircraft in India. We are establishing final assembly lines for the Airbus H125 helicopters, which will be launched next. There will be a big milestone on C-295, where we will deliver the first Indian originally made and assembled C-295 from India in quarter 3, 2026,” said Jürgen Westermeier, President and Managing Director, Airbus India and South Asia.
Addressing a press conference at Wings India 2026 here on Thursday, Westermeier said the C-295 aircraft would be made in India for India and also for the world.
Airbus projected India’s commercial aircraft fleet to triple to 2,250 aircraft over the next decade. This expansion will be driven by both the Indian aviation market boom and Indian airlines ambition to expand on international routes.
The requirement for aircraft will be driven by a unique blend of the fastest economic growth among G20 nations, deeper government spending on infrastructure and a fundamental shift in Indian consumer behavior, with per capita air travel rising from 0.13 to 0.29 over the next decade. As a result, passenger traffic in India will grow at 8.9 percent per annum by 2035, the fastest among the major economies and well above the long term global average.
Of these required aircraft, Airbus will be delivering more than 1,250 aircraft to airlines in the country in the next one decade. “As many as 120 aircraft will be coming to India every year, which may peak to 150 aircraft a year as a maximum delivery,” said Westermeier.
To keep this scaled-up fleet airborne, the requirement of pilots is set to surge to 35,000 by 2035, up from the current 12,000, while the technical workforce must grow to 34,000, tripling the current strength of 11,000.
“We are witnessing the center of global aviation shift toward the east. India’s fleet expansion will not only enhance domestic mobility but will position the country as a dominant hub for international transit. Therefore, the next chapter of Indian aviation must ensure its operating models evolve at the same pace as the expansion in its fleet and network,” he added.
