India will require 1,750 new passenger and cargo aircraft over the next 20 years to meet an exponential rise in both passenger and freight traffic, according to Airbus’ latest India Market Forecast.
To help meet this growth, India will need 1,320 new singleaisle aircraft and 430 widebody aircraft valued at US$255 billion.
While much of the air traffic growth is expected to be driven by the fast expanding economy, rising wealth and urbanization, ambitious government-backed regional connectivity programmes are also set to enhance demand for air travel. By 2036, Indians will each make four times as many flights as today. As a result, traffic serving the Indian market is forecast to grow 8.1 percent per year over the next 20 years, almost twice as fast as the world average of 4.4 percent.
Domestic Indian traffic is expected to grow five-and-half times over the next 20 years (2017–2036) reaching the same level as U.S. domestic traffic today, making it one of the world’s fastest growing markets, according to Airbus’ latest India Market Forecast for the period.
“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. Our sourcing volume has grown 16 times over the past 10 years and it is currently at more than US$550 million annually,” said Srinivasan Dwarakanath, President – Airbus Commercial Aircraft in India.
India is set to become the world’s third-largest aviation market by 2019/2020 and Airbus is well positioned to partner its growth with backlog orders of over 530 aircraft to date.
