Airbus sees India as fastest-growing country for aviation
05 February 2007
Airbus, which entered India with an order from Indian Airlines in 1976, says the growth will be led by the travel and freight sectors and expects Indian firms over the next 20 years to place orders for 1,100 passenger and freighters valued at about $105 billion.
Sanjay Sharma, senior marketing analyst at Airbus, attributes the growth to strong economic growth, greater liberalisation and a "large, frustrated pent-up demand" would help the Indian air travel market grow faster than the global average.
"While the bulk of the demand will be for single-aisle aircraft, there is a market for long-range and large aircraft, as well," he said.
Boeing's European rival, and part of EADS, estimates the Indian air travel sector to grow at an average 7.7 per cent per year over the next 20 years, compared to the projection for global at an average 4.7 per cent.
EADS has said it would invest would invest up to 2 billion euros over the next 15 years in India in production and research and development facilities. An engineering centre, a fully owned subsidiary, would be operational in the second half of this year.
Airbus is participating at the Aero India in Bangalore this week.
Airbus' Indian clients include Jet Airways Ltd., Deccan Aviation Ltd., Indigo, and Kingfisher Airlines, which has ordered five