Breaking Records With ‘Flying’ Colours: In A First, Indian Airlines Add Over 100 Aircraft In A Single Year
For the first time ever, Indian airlines inducted over 100 aircraft in a single calendar year and nine major Indian carriers took delivery of 120 planes in 2018, reports Mint.
The current statistic of 120 planes comprises of both single and double aisle planes as well as regional jets. In the previous year (2017), Indian airlines added 88 aircraft to their fleet.
IndiGo, India’s biggest airline company, accounted for nearly half the total capacity addition. While it added 55 aircraft in 2018, Air India inducted 18 planes. GoAir with 16 and SpiceJet with 14 aircraft occupied the third and fourth positions respectively.
This increase in intake capacity is indicative of a long-term trend in the Indian aviation growth story. “With a total of 1,055 aircraft on order, as many as 100 planes consisting of wide-body, narrow-body and regional ones are to be delivered to Indian carriers each year for the next five years,” said CAPA, an industry body, in 2017.
Larger demand, better supply
From its current seventh position, India is predicted to become the third-largest aviation market in the world by 2024, trailed only by the US and China, says International Air Transport Association (IATA).
It should be noted that the domestic passenger traffic market in India has been growing by twenty per cent annually in the last few years.
The PM Modi government has plans to invest Rs 25,000 crore in a bid to develop 20 major and other smaller airports in the country over the next five years.