Boeing Commercial Airplanes issued a forecast for new-aircraft demand in the Indian market, projecting a 20-year supply of 1,740 new aircraft, a total estimated at $240 billion. The annual India Current Market Outlook (CMO) further projected airline traffic growth in the wider South Asia region increasing 8.6% over the period, the highest traffic growth rate in the world for the 2015-2034 period.
The Indian CMO follows the global 20-year outlook that Boeing issued in June, in which it project global demand for 38,050 new commercial airplanes through 2035, with trends especially favoring single-aisle and smaller wide-body jets.
“Over the next 20 years, Boeing forecasts India will need 1,740 new airplanes worth $240 billion,” commented Dinesh Keskar, senior v.p. - Asia Pacific and India Sales. “India’s economy and the country’s potential for air travel growth – both for leisure and business – continues to be strong and we remain confident in the Indian commercial aerospace market.”
As in the wider global market, Indian carriers overriding demand will be for single-aisle aircraft (e.g., Boeing’s Next-Generation 737 and 737 MAX), and wide-body jets (e.g., Boeing’s twin-aisle 777 and 787 Dreamliner series). Boeing projects that Indian carriers will require 1,460 new, single-aisle aircraft, totaling an estimated $160 billion. It further forecasts demand for 260 wide-body jets, worth $80 billion.
These projections may be seen as an effect of another Indian market forecast: the number of low-cost carriers in the region is projected to grow to more than 30% of the total market.
“These aircraft are the foundation of the world's airline fleet, carrying up to 75% of passengers on more than 70% of the world's commercial aviation routes,” Boeing noted in its June release. It also reflects portion of the aircraft market benefiting most from demand by low-cost carriers (about 35% of demand) and airlines in developing and emerging markets – which are two of the factors contributing most significantly to new global demand.
"The Indian market is highly competitive and airlines are adapting with added capacity, moderate pricing discipline and new business models, such as the growing number of low cost carriers,” stated Keskar. "We continue to believe Boeing’s comprehensive airplane family meets our customers’ needs with superior economics and fuel efficiency, improved environmental performance and a great passenger experience.”
