Bipin Shah   Self Employed
Aircraft-maker Boeing says India's airline passenger numbers are set to rise to a record 50 million this year. This has prompted it to hike its 20-year aircraft demand forecast, and gear up to meet this demand, reports CNBC-TV18 Swati Khandelwal Jain.

Aircraft-maker Boeing believes that demand for aircraft from India will rise by 15% over the next 20 years, as more and more people take to the skies... and this will mean more orders from Indian airline companies. Dinesh Keskar, the head of Boeing India says that India will need 1,150 new commercial air planes over this period, which works out to a bill of nearly USD 130 billion.

Dinesh Keskar, President, Boeing India says, ?The demand has gone up SpiceJet and Jet Airways has seen a jump in its profits and load factors. All signals towards bullishness.?

Keskar believes that with the domestic aviation industry flying out of the economic storm, the aircraft leasing market is a honey-pot waiting to be grabbed.

Dinesh Keskar adds, ?Acquiring a new aircraft takes a significant time. So leasing is an option for them wherein they can go to the leasing companies, which buy aircraft in advance for these types of situations."

In the first half of this year the aviation sector has grown 22%. But Boeing believes 12-15% growth is sustainable. This translates into 35-40 planes per year to meet growing demand.
Aug 10th 2010 00:04