India requires 2,210 aircraft over next 20 years, says Airbus

Hyderabad: India will require 2,210 new aircraft over the next two decades including 1,770 small and 440 medium and large aircraft, according to Airbus’ latest India market forecast. Over the next decade, Indian economy will grow the fastest among the G20 nations. The growing middle class will spend more on air travel. As a result, […]

Hyderabad: India will require 2,210 new aircraft over the next two decades including 1,770 small and 440 medium and large aircraft, according to Airbus’ latest India market forecast. Over the next decade, Indian economy will grow the fastest among the G20 nations. The growing middle class will spend more on air travel. As a result, the passenger traffic in India will grow at 6.2 per cent per annum by 2040. This growth will be the fastest among the major economies and well above the global average of 3.9 per cent.

“We have seen India’s domestic market develop strongly. It is time now for Indian carriers to unlock the potential of international travel in and out of India,” said Rémi Maillard, President and Managing Diretor, Airbus India and South Asia.

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India has witnessed an upward trend in the growth of air traffic over the last ten years. The domestic traffic has grown almost three fold and the international traffic has doubled. On the international routes, India has only about one-tenth of the widebody fleet installed in similar markets. Homegrown carriers are deprived of a larger share of the profitable long-haul routes, which is now dominated by foreign airlines, the company said.

“Whether it is expanding existing airlines or supporting new airlines, there must now be a re-fleeting and rethinking about future-oriented solutions with technology that paves the way for sustainable long-range travel,” Maillard said on the inaugural day of the four-day Wings India aviation show being held at Hyderabad.

India will require an additional 34,000 pilots and 45,000 technicians by 2040, he said

Airbus will deliver more than one aircraft to India every week for the next 10 years. Airbus supports 7,000 jobs, including about 1,650 engineers in India. The annual sourcing from India is valued at more than $650 million (about Rs 4,875 crore) and it is keen to increase the localisation as it supports the Make-in-India programme. “Making in India is a strategic investment for us. Our every aircraft flying anywhere has some parts that are fully designed and manufactured in India,” said Brent McBratney, Head of Airline Marketing, Airbus India and South Asia.

In the long term, commercial aviation will leverage the India demographic and long haul market will open up new opportunities. The Covid had dealt a blow to the aviation ecosystem players. The domestic traffic is expected will rebound to pre-Covid levels this year while the international traffic will do so next year. “The fundamentals of India are strong,” he said. He, however, added that the sector is facing some crises due to multiple factor including high fuel prices now but aviation will drive the economies again shortly, he said.

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