According to Boeing, India’s commercial aviation industry has achieved double-digit growth for 51 consecutive months.
New Delhi: Aircraft manufacturing major Boeing anticipates a steep rise in demand of commercial airplanes – 2,300 of them valued at $320 billion (Rs 22.5 lakh crore approximately) – over the next 20 years, in the wake of unprecedented growth in domestic passenger traffic and rapidly expanding low-cost carriers. More than 80% of all new aeroplane deliveries will be single-aisles.
According to Boeing’s commercial market outlook, India’s commercial aviation industry has achieved double-digit growth for 51 consecutive months. This growth is matched in other sectors of the country’s economy.
“The Indian economy is projected to grow by nearly 350% over the next two decades to become the third largest one in the world,” said Dinesh Keskar, senior vice-president of Sales for Asia Pacific and India, Boeing Commercial Airplanes.
He said this will continue to drive the growth of India’s middle class and its propensity to travel both domestically and internationally, resulting in the need for more new fuel-efficient short and long-haul airplanes. According to him, the superior economics and fuel efficiency of the new 737 MAX airplane would be the perfect choice for Indian carriers.
India is the fastest growing domestic aviation market in the world and registered 50th straight month of double-digit growth in October. This year alone, more than 10 million passengers, on an average, travelled within India each month. “To meet this increased domestic air traffic growth, we see the vast majority of available airplane seats coming from low-cost carriers,” he said, adding “the success of this market segment will mean more than 80% of all new airplane deliveries in India will be single-aisles.”
With more than 5% of the world’s fleet expected to operate in India by 2037, services will continue to be a major driver of growth in the region’s commercial aviation industry. Commercial services such as flight training, engineering and maintenance, digital analytics among others, will provide airlines with optimal operational efficiencies as they continue to expand to meet growth in the marketplace.
In the South Asian market, including India, Boeing forecasts a commercial services market valued at $430 billion over the next 20 years.
According to Boeing, India would need 1,940 single-aisle planes and 350 wide body aircraft. Keskar said though there is strong passenger growth, the aviation market in India is quite challenging as most airlines are not making money. Amidst stiff competition, domestic airlines are offering low fares despite higher operational costs. He also noted that the exchange rates, fuel charges, and fare yields are also major challenges.