Airbus sees demand for 1,750 new aircraft in India in next 20 years

European aerospace major Airbus has predicted India will require 1,750 new passenger and cargo aircraft over the next 20 years to meet the exponential growth in both passenger and freight traffic. For the demand growth over the next 20 years, Airbus has said India will need 1,320 new single aisle aircraft and 430 wide-body aircraft with an estimated book value of $255 billion.

According to Airbus executives, much of the air traffic growth is expected to be driven by the fast expanding economy, rising wealth and urbanisation and ambitious Government-backed regional connectivity for air travel.

By 2036, Indians will each make four times as many flights as today. As a result, passenger traffic serving the Indian market is forecast to grow 8.1 per cent per year over the next 20 years, Joost van der Hejden, Vice-President Marketing, Asia and North America, said.

Outlining the forecast and business prospects, he said, “The domestic India traffic is expect to grow five-and-a-half times over the next 20 years during 2017-2036, reaching the same level as US domestic traffic today, thereby, making it (India) one of the world’s fastest growing (aviation) markets.”

“Make in India is at the heart of our strategy. Airbus has the largest footprint in India of any international aircraft manufacturer, nationwide across all aircraft programmes,” Srinivasan Dwarakanath, President, Airbus Commercial Aircraft, India, said. “Our sourcing volume has grown 16 times over the past 10 years. It is currently at more than $550 million annually and we have done more than $1.5 billion (of sourcing) in the last three years,” he said.

According to Airbus’ assessment, India is at a point now where the Chinese market was about a decade ago. India is set to become the world’s largest aviation market by 2019-2020 and Airbus is well positioned to partner its growth with backlog orders of over 530 aircraft to date. “This means we will be delivering on an average one aircraft per week over the next 10 years,” he said, to emphasise the importance of the Indian market in Airbus’ global business plans.

Referring to the Airbus India presence, Dwarakanath said they expect to see it grow significantly across different segments, including sourcing, servicing, partners, training and in-job creation.

He said Airbus has a more than 70 per cent backlog order share and more than 60 per cent of in-service fleet. India would require 24,000 new pilots and maintenance engineers over the next 20 years.

COMMENT NOW