“People will have greater access to air travel, and the region’s airlines will require a modern fuel-efficient fleet to meet increased demand over the next two decades,” said Ashwin Naidu, Boeing’s managing director of commercial marketing for India and South Asia
New Delhi: Boeing said on Thursday it expects Indian and South Asian airlines will add 2,835 commercial aircraft to their fleet over the next 20 years, a four-fold increase over current levels, as a rising middle class and healthy economic growth spur travel.
The U.S. plane maker’s previous rolling 20-year market forecast, issued last year, was for 2,705 jets.
“People will have greater access to air travel, and the region’s airlines will require a modern fuel-efficient fleet to meet increased demand over the next two decades,” said Ashwin Naidu, Boeing’s managing director of commercial marketing for India and South Asia.
The plane maker estimated in the closely-watched forecast that carriers in the two regions will take delivery of 2,445 single-aisle aircraft, representing roughly nine out of ten deliveries, while widebody fleet size will quadruple after adding 370 aircraft.
It also expects the region’s air traffic will grow more than 7% annually through 2043.
India is the third-largest domestic aviation market in the world after the U.S. and China and it is also the fastest-growing market, with IndiGo and Air India the top two airlines.
The plane maker estimated in the closely-watched forecast that carriers in the two regions will take delivery of 2,445 single-aisle aircraft, representing roughly nine out of ten deliveries, while widebody fleet size will quadruple after adding 370 aircraft.
It also expects the region’s air traffic will grow more than 7% annually through 2043.
India is the third-largest domestic aviation market in the world after the U.S. and China and it is also the fastest-growing market, with IndiGo and Air India the top two airlines.
The Indian aviation industry also faces challenges such as currency pressures, jet fuel price volatility, lower airfares than the global average and an imbalance in long-haul market share compared to foreign carriers, Boeing added on Thursday.