EMBRACING CHANGE FOR GROWTH

Empower Indian Aviation Regulators, to propel growth and ensure safety for a thriving Industry future

- SANJAY JULKA

THE INDIAN ECONOMY AND AVIATION INDUSTRY ARE CURRENTLY going through the Golden Age. A social media viral post shows the aviation industry is one of the top ten things growing in India. Following phrases and figures have been floating around in various publications over the last year:

• Indian aviation growth is anticipated to be 6.3 per cent CAGR over the next 20 years, compared to 4.9 per cent for the rest of Asia (Airbus Forecast Global Market 2022-2041). More than 100 aircraft per year are expected to be added to India's inventory 

• The third largest domestic civil aviation market in the world (IATA DD5).

• India's location favours the growth of a big aviation hub: 50 per cent of the world's population lives within a 6-hour travel time, and 65 per cent of the population does so within a 10-hour flight time (IATA DD5).

• Approximately 90 registration/deregistration entries of Business aircraft were registered in 2021 and 2022 as opposed to 40 and 35 respectively in 2020 and 2021 (dgca.nic.in).

• There are more than 10,000 Business Jets for 600 Billionaires in the US. India is home to 132 Business Jets for about 166 billionaires. An average of 34 Billionaires are added to the list each year. India thus has to move from 132 Business Jets to even beyond 10,000 Business Jets.

• The number of operational airports has increased from 74 (in 2014) to 140 (in 2022) since the UDAN system was implemented, including 31 international airports. Within the next five years, this number will reach more than 200.

• The MRO sector is predicted to experience the biggest growth globally.