Airbus’ Head of Airline Marketing for India and South Asia, Brent McBratney, gave a detailed presentation on how the plane manufacturer looks at the Indian aviation market in terms of aircraft demand over the extended future. He said Airbus expects Indian carriers to require 2,210 aircraft in the next 20 years, of which approximately 80% will be narrowbodies. McBratney was speaking at the Wings India 2022 show, Asia’s largest civil aviation event currently underway in Hyderabad at the Begumpet Airport (BPM).

Unprecedented growth for Indian aviation

Despite the massive damage inflicted upon the global aviation industry by the COVID pandemic, a quick recovery seems to be in store for the Indian market. McBratney said the country’s air passenger traffic will grow at around 6.2% per annum through 2042, the highest in the world. For a spot of context, the global average growth rate is expected to be 3.9% for the same period.

Indian Airlines
Indian aviation is set to grow at an unprecedented rate over the next 20 years. Photo: Getty Images

Airbus isn’t the only manufacturer to project high growth numbers for India. In a report released last year, Boeing estimated the country’s market to grow at 5% annually for the next 20 years. At 2,230, Boeing’s projections for aircraft requirements were also incredibly close to Airbus’ figures.

Focus on narrowbodies

Of the 2,210 planes mentioned in the forecast, Airbus thinks around 1,770 will be narrowbodies. India’s many low-cost carriers will use these planes to grow and replace their existing fleet over the next two decades. Even today, over 80% of planes operating in India are narrowbodies from the Airbus A320 or Boeing 737 families.

IndiGo plane Getty Images
IndiGo is Airbus' largest global customer with over 250 A320 family aircraft currently in its fleet. Photo: Getty Images

LCCs have proven to be extremely beneficial in increasing traffic on Indian domestic routes by offering affordable fares and making air travel available to the masses. Currently, nearly all Indian carriers operate planes made by Airbus for domestic operations. Moreover, LCCs like IndiGo and GoFirst boast an all-Airbus fleet exclusively comprising of aircraft from the A320 family. All-in-all, Airbus completely dominates the narrowbody market in India with over 80% of the pie.

The battle for widebodies

Airbus may enjoy a significant monopoly in the Indian narrowbody market, but Boeing is the undisputed winner when it comes to larger planes. Only two Indian airlines currently operate widebody aircraft- Air India and Vistara, and all of their planes come from Boeing. AI operates 787s and 777s for long-haul international routes (and some high-demand domestic ones), while Vistara has a couple of Dreamliners in its fleet as well.

Air India, London Stansted, Mumbai
Air India and Vistara are the only two Indian airlines operating widebody aircraft. Photo: Getty Images

Aviation experts have long believed international, and long-haul markets are largely untapped in India. According to Airbus’ projections, the country will require 440 large and medium aircraft over the next two decades. The European manufacturer faces an uphill battle as it tries to make inroads into India's 100% Boeing widebody market.

But Airbus is not backing down from a fight; it has flown an A350 jet on tour to the south Asian country in a bid to woo carriers away from its American rival. A demonstrator aircraft made its way to the Wings India airshow after brief stopovers in Delhi and Mumbai. Simple Flying was invited to have a look at the plane during its static display at DEL. Former Tata Group chairman, Ratan Tata was spotted touring the plane at BOM amid rumors of a possible A350 order from Air India in the coming days.

What do you make of Airbus’ projections for the Indian market over the next 20 years? Also, do you think the European manufacturer will be able to make any headway in the widebody segment? Please, let us know your thoughts in the comments.