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Rolls-Royce bullish on India's aircraft engine market
Ashwini Phadnis
Recently in Derby (UK)
THE aircraft engine manufacturer Rolls-Royce is bullish on prospects in India. It has estimated that the Indian market is growing at 20 per cent a year compared to a growth of about 7 per cent in other markets.
"There is a lot of potential in India. The aptitude for new equipment is growing and we would like to realise it. India and China are the two real growth areas for the business," the Customer Business Director, Middle East and South Asia, Mr Mark Tyack, said.
Rolls-Royce enjoys a dominant market position in the single aisle aircraft segment in India, with V-2500 engines powering the Airbus A-320 aircraft of Indian Airlines, Air Deccan and Kingfisher Airlines. The company feels that the new Trent series engines will also be ideally suited to meet the requirements of the wide body aircraft that airlines from India plan to acquire.
"We see a major opportunity for the Trent series engines in the orders that have been placed by both the public and private sector airlines. These new orders should provide an opportunity for Rolls-Royce to break into the Indian wide body aircraft market also," Mr Tyack added.
The Trent series engines can power the Airbus A-330 aircraft that both Jet Airways and Kingfisher are planning to acquire, as also the Airbus A-380 aircraft that Kingfisher has ordered.
While the airlines have indicated the variety of aircraft that they would be acquiring, details of the engines that would power them have not yet been made public. The order for installed and spare engines for the two private sector airlines — Jet Airways and Kingfisher — alone could be worth as much as £400 million.
Besides, the Trent series can also power the Boeing 787 that Air India is planning to acquire. The engine manufacturer, however, has no immediate plans to set up a maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facility in India.
"The decision to set up an MRO facility will depend on the demand from the market. At the moment, some private airlines are looking to take the total care package that we offer. But we would consider setting up an MRO seriously if the demand arose," Mr Tyack added.
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