Tag Archives: Airbus

Airbus estimates India may need 2,210 planes in 20 years

Airbus estimated that airlines in India will require 2,210 new aircraft over the next 20 years, with small aircraft accounting for 80% of the new deliveries, reports The Hindu.

Sounding upbeat on growth potential, the aviation major in its latest India Market Forecast said the demand would come on the back of passenger traffic in the country growing at 6.2% per annum by 2040, making it the fastest among major economies and way ahead of the global average of 3.9%.

Breant McBratney, Head of Airline Marketing, Airbus India and South Asia, in a presentation on the latest Forecast at Wings India 2022 on Thursday, said 1,770 of the new aircraft were expected to be small, while 440 could be medium and large. In the previous edition of the biennial event, Airbus had pegged the demand for new passenger and cargo aircraft in India by 2038 to be 1,880.
Noting that strong domestic traffic has primarily been the driver of Indian aviation growth, the Airbus forecast said the country had only about one-tenth of the widebody fleet installed in similar markets, depriving homegrown carriers of a larger share of the profitable long-haul routes now dominated by foreign airlines.

“It is time for Indian carriers to unlock the potential of international travel in and out of India, leveraging the country’s demographic, economic and geographic dividends,” said Remi Maillard, President and MD, Airbus India & South Asia. The forecast said that in order to serve the growing aviation industry, India will require an additional 34,000 pilots and 45,000 technicians by 2040.

 

Airbus in taks with Tatas, Indian carriers for wide-body A350XWB planes

Airbus is in talks with Tata Group and Indian carriers for a deal regarding the procurement of its wide-bodied A350XWB planes, President and MD of Airbus India & South Asia, Remi Maillard said on Monday. The Tata Group currently runs four Indian carriers — Air India, Air India Express, Vistara and AirAsia India.

Wide-bodied planes like A350XWB have larger fuel tanks that allow them to travel long distances as compared to narrow-bodied aircraft like A320NEO. A350XWB aircraft can travel above 8,000 nautical miles, with a flying time of approximately 18 hours in one flight. When asked if Airbus is in talks with Tata and Indian carriers for the A350XWB aircraft deal, Maillard said, “We are obviously in talks with all airlines. The new owner of Air India — Tatas — are existing customers of Airbus.”

“Tatas have Vistara and AirAsia India with them, as we know. We have developed a long-standing, trustful and respected relationship with the Tata Group,” he stated at a press conference in New Delhi. The Centre had sold Air India and Air India Express to the Tata Group in September last year. Maillard said Tatas are Airbus’s partner in the defense business too.

We are industrialising and manufacturing together with our C-295 military transport aircraft for the Indian Air Force (IAF),” he noted. “Of course, we will be privileged to continue supporting the ambition of the Tata Group in the aviation sector across the complete spectrum,” he added. The wide-bodied aircraft fleet in India has remained stagnant for the last 20 years, he said.

The single-aisle aircraft fleet has multiplied by a factor of six in the same time period, he noted. “We predict a 6.2 per cent yearly average growth for the air traffic out of India. The world average is at 3.9 per cent,” Maillard noted. Airbus is “quite bullish” on the long-haul international market out of India, he said. “We believe the kind of revolution we have witnessed in the domestic traffic in the last 20 years will now happen in the long haul market,” he noted. “We believe that the new generation aircraft, the A350, will be the trigger for this revolution in the international long haul market,” the MD added.
(Source: PTI)