By Staff Correspondent
India’s aviation sector is experiencing rapid growth as domestic carriers, including IndiGo, plan to place big orders for over 1,100 planes. The recent mammoth order of 470 planes from Air India, now owned by the Tata Group, has indicated the expansion plans of Indian carriers for both domestic and overseas markets.
This order is the largest so far by an Indian carrier and one of the largest single aircraft orders in the world. India’s largest carrier, IndiGo, is expected to lead with an order of around 500 planes, while the newly launched Akasa Air has already ordered 72 Boeing narrow-body aircraft, with 16 planes already delivered.
According to a recently released Centre for Aviation (CAPA) report, IndiGo had been planning to order around 300 aircraft before the pandemic, which could now increase to around 500 aircraft. This growth is due to India’s rapidly growing aviation market, which is predicted to require about 2,210 new planes in the next two decades, with annual domestic air traffic growth expected to be nearly 7% through 2041.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi also stated that the country’s growing aviation sector would need over 2,000 aircraft in the next 15 years. CAPA predicts that Indian carriers will place orders for 1,500 to 1,700 planes in the next one to two years.
Under Tata Group ownership, Air India plans to acquire 250 planes from Airbus, including 40 wide-body A350 aircraft and 220 planes from Boeing. IndiGo has already added 22 passenger aircraft to its fleet, reaching 300 in the 2022 December quarter, with a large order book of 500 aircraft.
Despite this rapid growth, human resources shortages, such as pilots, engineers, technicians, and air traffic controllers, may pose a challenge. Airlines have begun addressing this by creating training academies and working with potential partners. CAPA notes that aligning policy, regulation, infrastructure, competition, and consumer interests with global best practices is also necessary to sustain growth in the Indian aviation sector.
The Air India order is the first one in over 17 years and the second by an Indian airline post-pandemic, with the first being IndiGo’s order of 100 Airbus narrow-body aircraft in 2005.
