Indian airlines will need over 2,200 new aircraft over next 20 years: Airbus
Premium- Air passenger traffic in India will grow at 6.2% per annum by 2040, Airbus said
Hyderabad: Indian airlines will require about 1,770 new small aircraft and 440 medium and large aircraft over the next two decades, French aerospace major Airbus SE said in its latest India Market Forecast on Thursday.
"Over the next decade, India will grow to have the largest population in the world, its economy will grow the fastest among the G30 nations, and a burgeoning middle class will spend more on air travel," Airbus said in the forecast.
"As a result passenger traffic in India will grow at 6.2% per annum by 2040," it added.
According to data from Airbus, India will also need as many as 34,000 new pilots and 45,000 new aircraft technicians in the next 20 years.
Speaking at the biennial Wings India 2022 at Hyderabad, Remi Maillard, president and managing director, India and South Asia, at Airbus said that as much as 74% passenger traveling on long-haul routes from India in 2019 took connecting flights through international hubs.
"The wide-body fleet of Indian airlines are mostly stagnant," Maillard said.
There is an untapped potential and an opportunity to rebalance the long haul market share.
Maillard said that India, currently the third largest aviation market in the world, has only 57 wide body aircraft across its airline fleet, compares to 458 in China and 686 in the US.
Long haul market share of Indian airlines is 14% (of total fleet), compared to 43% in China and 38% in the US.
Recent media reports indicate that Airbus is in talks with Tata Group for providing new A350 planes to Air India.
Air India largely has a fleet of Boeing 787 and Boeing 777 wide body aircraft on its fleet which it utilizes to fly to long haul destinations like the US and Europe.
While, Air India has an ecosystem in place for Boeing wide body planes, production issues have delayed deliveries of new Boeing 787 planes.
Boeing Co. hasn't delivered new 787 planes to airlines since May 2021.
The long-haul market from India will gain massively in the next decade, Maillard said.
For instance, US is the most lucrative international market for India but Indian airlines have been able to garner only 12% of passenger revenue on this routes during 2019, while Middle Eastern carriers account for 40%, and European carriers account for 25% revenue on this route.
"We have similar observations on cargo segment (from and to India)," Maillard added.
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