New Delhi, Oct 15 (IANS): India Inc. Wednesday endorsed budget passenger carrier IndiGo's order for 250 aircraft with Airbus as a testament to the Indian aviation sector's potential.
According to industry lobby Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), the firm order for 250 Airbus A-320neo aircraft -- the single largest order by a single airline -- reaffirms the confidence in Indian aviation growth story.
"India is one of the least penetrated markets in terms of aircraft. The sector is just taking off and the order reaffirms the confidence in Indian aviation growth story," FICCI secretary general A. Didar Singh told IANS.
"The sector is expected to grow at a fast trajectory as the economy improves."
According to the Commerce Ministry's India Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF), India's aviation market is expected to become the third largest by 2020 and largest by 2030.
By market size, the Indian civil aviation industry is amongst the top-10 in the world with a size of around $16 billion.
In the April-May period of the current financial year, aircraft movements and passengers have increased by five percent each over traffic handled during the corresponding period of FY14.
Singh's view were corroborated by Amrit Pandurangi, senior director, Deloitte in India, who said that after consolidating its position as the largest market share holder the airline was looking at the future prospects of the industry.
"The company has a history of making strategic purchases. It has consolidated its position and is now clearly focusing on the future potential of the industry," Pandurangi told IANS.
Rajiv Chib, associate director- aerospace and defence told IANS that the airline's order at this junction is the testament to the growth potential of the country's aviation sector and the given the fact that the low cost segment has boomed in the recent past.
The airline achieved the highest market share at 32.6 percent in August. It operates 83 A320 aircraft, including those imported till 2014. It has also inked a leasing deal to take 12 A320s from Singapore's Tiger Airways.
The current order is the third time that IndiGo has signed such a massive aircraft deal with Airbus.
It signed the first agreement in 2005 to buy 100 A-320s when the total order was worth $6 billion. That order, the planes under which are currently in the process of being delivered, too was one of the highest by any domestic carrier at that time.
Again in 2011, the airline placed the single largest order in global aviation history, for 180 A-320s worth an estimated $15.6 billion from Airbus.