Last Updated:October 25, 2024, 12:11 IST

Union civil aviation minister K Rammohan Naidu said that the country will have 8,000 aircraft in the next 20 years.

India is one of the world’s fastest-growing civil aviation markets.

Highlighting the growth potential of India’s civil aviation space, Union Minister K Rammohan Naidu on Thursday said the country might need 4,000 more planes in the next 20 years and 200 more airports are expected to be developed during the same period.

Rammohan highlighted India’s ambition to design and manufacture aircraft domestically, inviting global aerospace giants to play an active role in this endeavour. He emphasised the need to develop training infrastructure to build a skilled workforce, given the rapid growth of India’s aviation sector. He further noted India’s aim to produce aircraft within the country to meet its civil aviation needs.

“We feel that Airbus has a very big role to play,” Naidu said while speaking after inaugurating the Airbus India and South Asia Headquarters – Training Centre in New Delhi.

The minister said that the country will have 8,000 aircraft in the next 20 years.

Currently, Indian carriers are operating around 800 planes and more than 1,200 aircraft are on order. The number of airports has doubled to 157 in the last 10 years and the count is expected to rise by 50 in the next 5 years.

“In the next 20 years, we might need another 4,000 aircraft to cater to the demand of the Indian aviation sector,” Naidu said and stressed on the need for further developing the airport ecosystem in the country.

Airports have to be places for job creation, economic activities and commerce centres, he added.

India is one of the world’s fastest-growing civil aviation markets.

“With expanding air travel, the stress on pilots, both physical and mental, is kind of increasing…. state-of-the-art simulators being set up are going to provide a world-class training environment where pilots can practise complex procedures in a very realistic environment,” Naidu said.

The minister also mentioned efforts to ensure more ease of doing business and long-term plans to design and manufacture planes in India.

Civil Aviation Secretary Vumlunmang Vualnam said the air passenger traffic in the country is expected to double in the next five years from 220 million, which was achieved last year.

The Airbus centre will also serve as a pilot and maintenance training centre that will accommodate four A320neo Full Flight Simulators (FFS).

5,000 people as direct employees

Airbus expects to have more than 5,000 people as direct employees in India and also aims to source services and components worth USD 2 billion from the country in the next couple of years, a top company official said on Thursday.

President of Airbus India and Managing Director South Asia Remi Maillard also said the company’s engagement with the country is gaining new momentum.

Currently, the aircraft maker employs around 3,500 people directly in India and sources services and components worth 1 billion euros from the country.

He said it will further grow the sourcing footprint and that is expected to touch USD 2 billion in the next couple of years.

Also, Airbus’ direct employment number in India will cross 5,000 in the next couple of years, he added.

Among others, Airbus will be setting up a second pilot training centre through a joint venture with Air India and will be investing to develop a 5,000-seater Airbus campus in Bengaluru.

Also, the European major will be making the C295 military aircraft and H125 helicopter in India. Both programmes are being done in partnership with the Tata Group.

Maillard also said the Airbus is working with Indian research organisations to support the commercialisation of the first ‘Made in India’ Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF).

Airbus Defence and Space CEO Michael Schoellhorn said ‘Make-in-India’ is at the heart of the company’s strategy.

“The C295 programme is creating history as the first aircraft fully manufactured in India by the private sector,” he added.

Further, he said the company is ready to recreate the success of the C295 programme with many of the forthcoming modernisation projects of the Indian armed forces.

These include “the medium transport aircraft programme for which we are prepared to completely industrialise the A400M in India,” he noted.

(With agency inputs)