Boeing forecasts India to drive South Asia’s air traffic growth

Boeing Co. predicted India will continue to lead the air traffic growth in South Asia, thanks to the country’s emerging cohort of first-time fliers. 

Air travel across South Asia will grow at a rate of 8% annually over the next 20 years, Darren Hulst, vice president of commercial marketing at Boeing, said told reporters at an air show in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad. Indian carriers control 90% of the region’s air traffic, Hulst said.

Boeing is expecting South Asian airlines to quadruple their fleets to 2,705 new aircraft over the next two decades. More than 86% of those will be single-aisle, while wide-body planes will account for 14%, Hulst said.

The demand for air travel is rising in the world’s most-populous nation. India’s expanding middle class are taking to the skies as flying becomes more affordable with the influx of budget airlines, with many betting on an ongoing boom. 

Akasa Air on Thursday placed an order for 150 Boeing 737 Max aircraft, scheduled for deliveries through 2032. IndiGo, India’s biggest airline, and Tata Group-owned Air India Ltd., together ordered more than 900 aircraft from Airbus SE and Boeing last year.

South Asia will require 37,000 pilots and 38,000 maintenance technicians over the next 20 years, driven primarily from growing demand in India, Boeing said in a statement Friday.

Boeing doesn’t anticipate any “meaningful delays” in deliveries and backlogs to India after a Max 9 jet was involved in Alaska Airlines incident when a door plug panel blew off shortly after takeoff earlier this month, Hulst said. 

Boeing’s focus is on “improving quality and putting it back to where it needs to be on every single aircraft without compromising on schedule,” he said.