Indian carriers’ record plane deals could pose ‘serious threat’ to Middle East aviation hubs
- IndiGo and Air India’s massive plane orders signal their intention to grow their presence in domestic and international markets over the course of a decade
- The fleet expansion could affect not only India’s smaller carriers, but also those in Southeast Asia and the Middle East with new routes being planned, one analyst notes
While the two historic orders have injected fresh life into a moribund sector that is recovering from the aftermath of Covid-19, the size of the deal has sown doubts about whether the market will be able to support such a large expansion.
Analysts say there is unlikely to be a dearth of customers in the nation that recently became the world’s most populous, with the only hurdle being whether the deal will help remove red tape that has for years hobbled the country’s potential as an aviation hub.
“India is a different animal from what it used to be. The airlines would not be making these orders if they were not confident of the infrastructure development,” said Mayur Patel, Asia head at global travel data provider OAG Aviation.
The fleet expansion comes at a time when India is preparing to open Asia’s largest airport next year in the city of Jewar in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The Indian government plans to spend 980 billion rupees (US$11.9 billion) by 2025 on constructing and modernising airports within the country.