India is the third largest aviation market in terms of domestic passenger traffic, and keeping in mind the large number of air travellers the country has, Boeing on Monday, July 31, said that the country will take deliveries of 2,100 new planes in the next 20 years.
Calling it the "highest forecast" for the country, Boeing said that India will have a 5.1 percent share of the total global demand for aircraft, which it estimates to be about 41,030.
"The increasing number of passengers combined with a strong exchange rate, low fuel prices and high load factors bode well for India's aviation market, especially the low-cost carriers," the Press Trust of India quoted Dinesh Keskar, senior vice-president, Asia Pacific and India Sales, Boeing Commercial Airplanes.
The American aeronautic giant also explained that India will mostly purchase single-aisle planes for low-cost carriers that will operate about 60 percent of the flights in the country. While the estimate seems positive with the number of air travellers likely to grow over the next few years, Keskar also had his inhibitions about the airport infrastructure and the congestion.
Even though Boeing predicts the demand for aircraft to surge in the next few years, it has said that the estimated figures will be revised next year as it will also take into account the government's regional connectivity scheme and its effects on the number of aircraft required. The brand hopes that the scheme takes off on a massive scale, thus benefiting not just the travellers in the country but Boeing as well.
"RCS will allow opening of new routes, thus providing more connectivity. Over the next 4-5 years, the growth on those routes will make a Boeing 737 viable. We are very bullish that if it (RCS) works out, we will be one of the beneficiaries," Keskar said.
Boeing has started the delivery of 737 MAX 8 aircraft and will also deliver its first 737 MAX 9 in 2018. The brand has been making quite some strides and had also launched its 737 MAX 10 at Paris Air show earlier in 2017.
Boeing also has some major plans for the year 2019 as it plans to launch 737 MAX 7 as well as 737 MAX 8-200 with 200 economy seats.
Additionally, it also is planning to replace its Boeing 757 by 2025 with a plane which will have 225-275 seats. The new plane also will offer "twin aisle comfort for single aisle cost."
India dethroned Japan to become the third largest aviation market and its domestic air passenger traffic stood at 100 million in 2016. The first place was taken by the US (719 million) and China (436 million), Sydney-based aviation think-tank Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA) said in its March 2017 report.
