India needs 2,840 new aircraft, 41,000 pilots in next 20 years: Airbus forecast

Airbus will double its sourcing from India to USD 1.5 billion by the end of the decade from the existing USD 750 million.

India will need 2,840 new aircraft and 41,000 pilots as well as 47,000 technical staff in the next 20 years, Rémi Maillard, President and Managing Director of Airbus India and South Asia said on Thursday.

Addressing a press conference on the sidelines of the aviation conclave and exhibition, Wings India 2024, Maillard said Airbus will double its sourcing from India to $1.5 billion by the end of the decade from the existing $750 million.

He said that last year Airbus got orders for 750 aircraft and delivered 75 units to Indian carriers — 41 to Indigo, 19 to Air India, 14 to Vistara and one to Go First.

“India is a force that will power global aviation over the next decades...the forecast is that India will require 2,840 new aircraft over the next 20 years to serve the needs of its growing aviation market,” he said.

He further said that the A350 aircraft is the catalyst of the revolution in international travel in India and already six of those planes were delivered to Air India last year.

Maillard predicted that in the next 20 years India will remain the fastest growing economy in the world with 6.2 per cent growth annually.