India will be among the fastest-growing aviation markets with its air traffic projected to grow at 7% annually through 2040, says aviation manufacturer Boeing.
Boeing’s projection is over a 20-year period, and the near-term growth would be much higher in India, explained Boeing Managing Director David Schulte during a press event.
The growth for the Southeast Asian market is pegged at 5.5%, while it is 5.4% for China and Africa, and 4.8% for Latin America.
India’s domestic air traffic has come close to the 2019 level of close to 1 crore monthly travellers, and international traffic has surpassed pre-COVID levels with June seeing 18.46 lakh passengers.
Spurred by the demand for medical supplies during the pandemic, air cargo in India too has tremendous growth potential with India’s freighter fleet expected to grow exponentially in the decades ahead, according to Boeing.
Boeing India President Salil Gupte said the company was always looking at the possibility of increased raw material supplies from India.
“The company is also looking to increase the sourcing of raw materials from the country,” he said.
“We have talked to various Ministries. We have been working to try to enhance raw material supplies from India so that is going to be critical for indigenisation, both in defence and civil aerospace manufacturing space,” Mr. Gupte added. The supply chain for titanium has been impacted by the Ukraine-Russia war. The American behemoth sources material worth about $1 billion from India annually.
