A PARTNERSHIP FOR THE SKIES

From Fleet expansion to System Building, Paul Righi, Vice President, Sales and Marketing, Eurasia, India, & South Asia, Boeing Commercial Airplanes talks to SP's Aviation on Boeing's long-term India play

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SP's Aviation (SP's): With India's aviation market reaching new heights, how is Boeing strengthening its presence and addressing the unprecedented demand for commercial aircraft?

Paul Righi (Paul): India's aviation growth has entered a phase defined not only by scale but by structural transformation. Boeing's recent Commercial Market Outlook projects that South Asia's commercial fleet will nearly quadruple by 2043, with Indian carriers accounting for the majority of the region's 2,800 plus new airplane deliveries. This growth is reshaping travel patterns enabling greater point-to-point connectivity across India and into international markets.

Boeing's response to this demand is deliberately two-pronged. On the supply side, we are progressively increasing production rates across key programmes as supply-chain stability improves. Equally important, we are investing in the ecosystem that surrounds the aircraft-engineering capability, maintenance readiness, logistics infrastructure, and workforce development, to ensure growth is sustainable and predictable.

Investments across co-production and co-development, MRO capability, spares availability, digital solutions for predictive maintenance, and workforce skilling, including programmes such as the Boeing Kaushal skilling programme, and STEM initiatives like the Boeing Sukanya Program, reflect this long-term approach. By combining advanced aircraft deliveries with deeper local capability, we are positioning India as a core pillar of Boeing's global aviation ecosystem, not just a destination market.

SP's: As India's aviation sector scales rapidly, how is Boeing reinforcing its focus on safety and quality?