Global airplane makers bullish on Indian skies

With the central government poised to hold a mega conference with the states on developing around 300 unutilised airstrips across the country, airplane makers are raising the projections for jets required for regional connectivity.

Apart from the big boys - the US-based Boeing and Europe's Airbus - Embraer (Brazil), Bombardier (Canada), Sukhoi (Russia), ATR (France) and BAE System (UK) are gearing up to tap the emerging regional jet market in the country.

Union Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said the opening up of unused airstrips would boost greater regional connectivity and for that India would require at least 1,500-2,000 airplanes over the next 10 years.

He said the ministry was considering bidding out the airstrips in blocks for development as it might not be feasible to do it individually.

"The government may consider imposing a cess in the future for viability gap funding to support the unviable airports across the country," Patel added.

In addition, the government is also developing 35 non-metro airports in phases. Industry analysts said regional connectivity coupled with boom in civil aviation would propel the sale of regional jets.

"The last two years were the best time for airplane makers. And most of the planes sold were mid-sized small jets," Patel said.

Boeing and Airbus have now revised their projections for the number of aircraft that Indian carriers will buy in the next 20 years.

Boeing said it would buy 856 aircraft against its earlier projection of 490 while Airbus set a higher target of 1,100 aircraft for the same period.

Sanjay Sharma, senior marketing analyst, Airbus, said, "A major portion of this demand will be for single-aisle aircraft, though there is a market for long-range and large jets like the A380 as well."

Boeing Vice-President (sales-commercial planes) Dinesh Keskar said, "Travellers are opting for direct flights. Small body aircraft such as the Boeing 737 and Airbus A320 will constitute a big bulk of the total aircraft that airlines in India will order over the coming years."

It's no surprise then that regional aircraft manufacturers like Bombardier, Embraer and ATR are making sales projections for the Indian market. Filippo Bagnato, chief executive officer, ATR said, "There are currently 100 ATR turboprops operating in India. We are hoping to sell 250 turboprops in 5-6 years."

Meanwhile, Bombardier's Senior Representative (Media), Marc Holloran, said, "There will be over 300 regional jets in India over the next 10-15 years."

Currently, there are nine leased CRJ 200s flying in India - seven being operated by Air Sahara and two in the fleet of the yet-to-be launched Indus Air.

Sukhoi Superjet 100 is looking to beat Bombardier in filling up that gap. The aircraft, which can seat between 70 and 100 passengers, will be test flown in the final quarter of this year.