The Hindu Business Line : India needs 856 aircraft valued at $72 b in 20 years: Boeing

Boeing estimates that till 2026, almost 80 per cent of the demand for all the aircraft would come from single aisle aircraftsuch as Boeing 737 and Airbus A 320 while twin aisle aircraft such as the Boeing 777 and Boeing 787 and the Airbus A-340 and A-350 would constitute about 14 per cent of the market demand.

DR DINESH KESKAR (left), Senior Vice-President, Boeing, with Mr Alok Sharma, President, Air Sahara at a press conference in the Capital on Monday. — Ramesh Sharma

New Delhi , Aug. 28

US-based aircraft manufacturer Boeing has estimated that India would require 856 new civilian aircraft valued at more than $72 billion over the next 20 years.

Boeing's latest market outlook for India almost doubles its previous market outlook. In August last year, Boeing's Senior Vice-President, Sales, Dr Dinesh A. Keskar, told newspersons that the company estimates India would require 490 aircraft valued at $32 billion over the next 20 years.

"The strong forecast for Gross Domestic Product growth, the advent of low-cost airlines, new air services bilaterals signed by India and the fact that the country is increasingly becoming a tourist destination are among the reasons driving market growth here," Dr Keskar said here on Monday.

Single aisle aircraft

Boeing estimates that till 2026, almost 80 per cent of the demand for all the aircraft would come from single aisle aircraft such as Boeing 737 and Airbus A 320 while twin aisle aircraft such as the Boeing 777 and Boeing 787 and the Airbus A-340 and A-350 would constitute about 14 per cent of the market demand.

"We estimate that the country would require 676 single aisle aircraft valued at more than $44 billion while there would be a requirement of around 120 twin aisle aircraft valued at more than $25 billion. Besides, there is likely to be a need for 51 regional jets. There is unlikely to be much demand for large jets such as the Boeing 747," Dr Keskar added.

The manufacturer is of the opinion that almost 80 per cent of the aircraft that would be inducted over the next 20 years would cater to the growth of the market while about 20 per cent of the inductions would be on account of older aircraft being taken out of service.

Bullish on cargo market

Apart from civilian aircraft, the manufacturer is also bullish on the prospects in the Indian cargo market.

Meanwhile, Air Sahara announced that apart from purchasing 10 Boeing 737-800 aircraft, it was in talks with the aircraft manufacturer for acquiring the 737-900 Extended Range aircraft that entered global service earlier this month.

"We have placed direct purchase order for 10 Boeing 737-800 aircraft. The aircraft would start arriving from the middle of 2009 and all the aircraft should be delivered within two years. All 10 aircraft are on firm basis," the airline President, Mr Alok Sharma, said. The order has a list price of $700 million.

Asked how the airline would fund the acquisition, the airline President merely said that enough instruments were available to fund the acquisition programme. "Why should there be a problem in raising $700 million when people are raising billions of dollars," Mr Sharma wondered.