After Air India, IndiGo & other airlines to order 1,200 planes

Air India's 470 aircraft order is expected to be a watershed moment in the Indian aviation industry's growth, as other domestic carriers, led by IndiGo, are expected to place orders for a total of 1,000 to 1,200 aircraft in the next 24 months, according to the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA). India may be on the verge of a long-awaited and historic shift... it may finally be poised to assume its place as the global aviation market of the twenty-first century, according to the paper. Almost every Indian carrier is set to acquire new aircrafts in the next two years for fleet replacement and growth, but IndiGo is slated to place the next massive order. IndiGo had planned to put a major order of roughly 300 aircraft prior to Covid, which was postponed because to the epidemic. This is now expected to happen and could be even greater than previously planned, increasing to roughly 500 aircraft today, says the newly released CAPA report titled 'India: The next growth engine of global aviation'. Presently, all Indian carriers operate approximately 700 aircraft. Some of the global behemoths alone have a far larger fleet; for example, American Airlines operates a fleet of 935 aircraft. Yet, with these big purchases, India's aircraft numbers are expected to skyrocket in the coming decade. Preparing for the predicted rate of growth is therefore vital for India. Ordering aircraft is arguably a simple task. Even more difficult is preparing the entire aviation ecosystem to absorb these planes, it stated. The industry should not be caught off guard by an infusion of capacity, as happened between 2005 and 2008 when planes were grounded due to a crew shortage, or between 2014 and 2019, when sustained year-on-year growth of close to 20% tested the entire aviation system. There will be a need to connect policy, legislation, skill availability, knowledge development, infrastructure, including airports and airspace, competition, and consumer interests, with global best practises, the report stated. Manpower shortage--pilots, engineers, technicians, air traffic controllers apart from technocrats for various civil aviation regulatory bodies and security agencies, that is—would be another challenge. Airlines have begun bracing for the climb. Air India, for instance, has commenced a project to create a training academy, said an aviation source, adding that the airline is talking to various potential partners. Air India’s 470-aircraft delivery schedule will commence this year and end in 2032. Also Read Andhra Pradesh: Construction begins in the JSW Steel plant Jupiter Wagons to roll out electric commercial vehicles