European aircraft manufacturer Airbus Industrie has forecast that Indian airlines are likely to place orders for a substantial number of planes. Airbus President and CEO Tom Enders, said Indian airline companies were likely to order 638 single-aisle aircraft, 287 twin-aisle aircraft, 68 “very large” passenger craft, and 39 cargo aircraft during next two decades. “The value of orders is expected to be about $138 billion,” Mr. Enders said. Referring to the demand for new aircraft, Mr. Enders said, “India and China are the two main centres in the world.”
Mr. Enders said the Airbus' engineering centre in Bangalore had established ties with 25 suppliers. Apart from engineering companies, IT companies were also associated with the company, he said.
Kiran Rao, Executive Vice-President, Sales and Marketing, Airbus India, said Airbus' share of the 508 aircraft ordered by Indian airline companies was nearly 70 per cent between 2005 and 2009. Mr. Rao said Airbus had a 19 per cent stake in the global market for civilian aircraft in 1995, the remaining 81 per cent being with Boeing. “We have steadily caught up with Boeing, having a market share of 54 per cent in 2009,” he said.
Mr. Rao said Chinese airlines were likely to order three times the number of planes that Indian airline companies were likely to order in the next 20 years from Airbus.
Mr. Rao said the “sharklet” wingtip design, which would be installed in Airbus aircraft from 2012, would result in a fuel saving of 3.5 per cent, resulting in an increase in the flying range.
“This might appear to be a small saving, but the fact that fuel costs account for about half the operating cost of an airline, implies that this can have a huge impact,” Mr. Rao said.
Eugen Welte, CEO, Airbus engineering centre India, “We plan to increase the headcount at the centre to 400 from 180 by 2013,' he told The Hindu .
“A cluster is emerging here (in Bangalore), but the scale is still low,” he said.
