The Hindu Business Line : ‘Aviation policy set to trigger next phase of growth’

Hyderabad, Dec. 20 The aviation industry players — both domestic and overseas — are awaiting the new civil aviation policy, which they believe would trigger the next phase of growth.

Requesting anonymity, the head of one of the leading aircraft manufacturers told Business Line that the aviation policy that is expected to be announced in January would accelerate growth of both domestic industry, encouraging regional players to expand, and also allow Indian airliners to chart out global destinations.

Already Indian airliners have made their intent clear by placing orders for about 400 aircraft of the 1,000 ordered at the Paris show. This is big number by any standards and would have a fair complement of ATRs and Bombardiers that would help grow domestic market.

The policy is expected to outline the framework for domestic airlines to go global and liberalise services to some existing routes and new destinations.

This augured well for the aviation sector and was expected to bring in more investments — across areas of maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO), and partnerships with other Indian companies in the areas of manufacturing and software.

Companies such as Boeing, Airbus and Lufthansa have committed big investments in India for their MRO and sourcing operations. However, this is just the beginning of the next phase of growth.

Trends point towards China, India and countries in the Asia Pacific region, driving the industry growth and this is being reflected in a company like Airbus setting up a manufacturing base in China at Shenzhen.

Indian technology companies are playing a big role in avionics software. The Black Box, which gets on board the aircraft, and becomes a source of information during disasters, has now become a lot more versatile, recording not just flight data but also encompassing scores of other aircraft information. Indian companies have potential to partner in these areas.