India will need 2,840 new aircraft in 20 years, says Airbus

Hyderabad, Jan 19 (IANS) India will need 2,840 new aircraft over the next two decades to serve the needs of its growing civil aviation market, Airbus India and South Asia President and Managing Director Remi Maillard said on Thursday.

Addressing a press conference on the sidelines of ‘Wings India 2024’ here, he said India would also require 41,000 pilots as well as 47,000 technical staff during the same period.

The aircraft manufacturer has revised upwards its projection for aircraft required by India. In 2022, it had put the demand at 2,210 aircraft.

"Global aviation is pivoting to India and we are only seeing the tip of the iceberg given the potential of the Indian aviation industry," he said, adding that India is a force that will power global aviation.

Maillard mentioned that India’s economic fundamentals are strong with solid growth drivers such as the demographic dividend and urbanisation. Despite the significant growth for the last few years, per capita air travel remains low in India at a mere 0.13 to be compared to 0.5 in China.

He said India will remain the fastest growing civil aviation market in the world over the next two decades with a growth rate of 6.2 per cent as against the global average of 3.6 per cent.

He said Airbus was seeing good demand for aircraft orders from India.

In 2023, it received a record 750 aircraft orders including 500 jets from IndiGo and 250 from Air India.

Last year, Airbus delivered 75 units to Indian carriers - 41 to Indigo, 19 to Air India, 14 to Vistara and one to Go First.

He also stated that India will be investing close to $12 billion in building new airports and refurbishing existing ones. The country has set a target of around 200 airports within the next five years, up from the current 150. He expects to double the company's sourcing from India to $1.5 billion.

Currently, Airbus sources goods worth $750 million from the country. The company is collaborating with over 40 suppliers, both public and private. They contribute to various aspects of Airbus's operations, including engineering, manufacturing, digital solutions, innovation, and customer services.

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