Airbus ups sales target for India

Encouraged by the massive orders placed by Indian carriers, European aircraft-maker Airbus Industrie has revised its demand projection for the Indian market to 800-1,000 aeroplanes worth $80 billion by 2026. The earlier projection envisaged orders for 570 aeroplanes worth $40 billion by 2023.

Notably, about 40 of these aircraft are expected to be super jumbo A 380s. "The Indian market is very strong. We see orders between 800 and 1,000 aircraft in the next 20 years, including 40 A-380s," said Kiran Rao, senior vice-president, marketing and pricing, Airbus Industrie.

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

"India is a major driver for the global aviation market. We see a major upscale for sales from India. India is seeing a boom in airline start-ups and strong economic growth," said Rao.

Indian carriers have been on an aircraft-buying spree, with Air Deccan ordering 32 AAA-320s, Jet Airways 10 A-330s with buying option for another 10, Kingfisher 15 aircraft including five double-decker A-380s and start-up airline Interglobe placing orders for 100 A-320s. "We have had a good year with many orders. We are also working on some additional deals in India. This includes some start-ups as well as existing carriers," Rao said.

The airplane industry draws up a long-term forecast for the market, which is revised every two years. The forecast is based on the existing fleets in a given country, various economic parameters and the growth rates of the country.

Rao said Airbus also had plans to set up training centres in India, whose market size would be second only to China's.