Article Posted on : - Jul 24, 2009

The US aviation major aims to fly high in the growing Indian commercial airplane market. -- Image credit: Boeing

NEW DELHI (BNS): With the domestic aviation sector witnessing a healthy growth, India will require nearly 1,000 commercial jets in the next 20 years and become a $100 billion market, US aviation major Boeing has forecast.

“There is strength and resilience in the India commercial aviation sector over the long term. The potential for future growth of air travel, both domestically and internationally, is among the greatest in the world,” Boeing India President Dinesh Keskar said in an official statement issued here on Thursday.

He said the air travel in India, tied closely to the country’s economic growth, will rebound in the coming years.

India’s economy has averaged 7 percent annual growth over the past 10 years and the country’s economic growth remains among the strongest in the world. The record growth in air travel, which expanded rapidly in the past eight years due to liberalisation and favorable economic conditions, is now tracking at 2007 levels, Boeing said while releasing market data and forecast on Indian commercial airplane market.

Recent market forces and recession in many parts of the world have led to a contraction of India’s commercial aviation sector, with consolidation of airlines and an overall reduction of capacity.

Nonetheless, India’s projected GDP growth over the next 20 years will average 6.5 per cent annually, driving a resurgence of demand and capacity growth for the country’s airlines, the statement said quoting Keskar.

“If you take a realistic and broad look at the India market, what resonates is that there is more positive than negative and the prospect for continued long-term growth remains high,” the company head for India said.