Airbus scales up India sales target by 40%

Spurred by the orders placed by Indian carriers for its flagship aircraft A320, European aircraft maker Airbus today increased its projections for the Indian market by over 40 per cent to 570 planes by 2023 from its last estimate of 400.

As per the projection of Airbus, Indian carriers will buy 570 aircraft worth $55 billion by 2023.

This is the second time in less than one year that the European aircraft maker is upping its sales projection for India. Late last year Airbus had doubled it projection for sale of aircraft to India to 400 from 200 by 2023.

"India is a major driver for the global aviation market. We see a major upscale for sales from India," said Kiran Rao, senior vice president, marketing & pricing, Airbus Industrie.

As per the projections of Airbus, by 2013 Indian carriers will buy 368 aircraft. In addition, Airbus also anticipates that India will have at least 20 Airbus A 380 type aircraft.

"By 2023, there will be about 371 single-isle aircraft in India and mid sized 124 aircraft. Besides, with Kingfisher placing orders for five A 380, we see more demand for similar aircraft in India," Rao said.

In addition, putting a lid on the controversy following its demand for a probe into Air India's decision to buy aircraft from its competitor Boeing, Airbus today said it was not going to revisit the past as its planes have emerged as a "preferred choice" for airlines in India.

"What has happened has happened. Time has gone by. We are now focused on the future. Airbus aircraft have emerged as a preferred choice for the airlines in India," Rao said when specifically asked whether they still stood by their demand for an inquiry into the Air India board's decision to select an all-Boeing fleet.

Referring to the recently-concluded Paris Air Show, he said his company had bagged orders for supply of aircraft worth $33.5 Billion compared with 146 planes of the US manufacturer Boeing worth $15.3 billion.

Indian carriers had led the aircraft buying spree with Air Deccan ordering 32 AAA-320s, Jet Airways ten A-330s with buying option for another ten, Kingfisher's 15 aircraft, including five double-decker A-380s and start-up airline Interglobe placing orders for 100 A-320s, Rao said.

On reports that Airbus was quoting lesser price for its planes for some foreign carriers than it did to Indian Airlines, Rao said "We have responded to this and Indian Airlines is satisfied. We hope the deal will get the official approval in the next few weeks. In addition, two different deals entered in two different circumstances can not be compared. These two deals are different."