18NEW DELHI, Feb 17: After Air India’s historic order of 840 planes to Airbus and Boeing, other Indian carriers are planning to order close to 1,200 more aircraft in over 24 months.
According to the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation India (CAPA India), Indian carriers are expected to place orders for additional 1,000-1,200 aircraft, starting off with another large order from IndiGo. According to a CAPA report, almost every carrier in India is expected to order more aircraft in the next couple of years, for fleet replacement as well as growth, given that the order book for most incumbent carriers could be considered conservative relative to the growth potential of the market over the next decade and beyond.
IndiGo had been planning to place a significant order of around 300 aircraft prior to Covid-19, which was deferred due to the pandemic. This is now likely to proceed and could be even larger than previously envisaged, increasing to around 500 aircraft now, according to the CAPA report.
In recent months, there have been numerous cases of aircraft deliveries being delayed where the airframe was ready, but the engines were not available due to supply chain issues. The incidence of such cases is expected to ease by the end of FY2024 (2023-2024).
However, even after supply-side challenges are resolved, aircraft and engine original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) face a very significant backlog of orders that could take years to address, the report said. Airbus and Boeing combined had 12,669 unfulfilled orders as on December 31, 2022. Delivery slots are very hard to come by for at least the next couple of years, while for narrow bodies the situation is reportedly tight until 2029, CAPA said in the report released on Friday.
On Thursday, Nipun Aggrawal, chief commercial and transformation officer (CCTO), Air India, posted on a social media site that out of the airline’s order of 840 aircraft from European giant Airbus and US Boeing, the firm’s order is for 470 planes and the remaining 370 are options.
In a LinkedIn post, he mentioned, “The order comprises 470 firm aircraft, 370 options and purchase rights to be procured from Airbus and Boeing over the next decade.” (ANI)
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