Indian airline operators expected to add 120 new aircraft per year: Scindia

Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Friday said Indian airline operators are expected to add 110 to 120 new aircraft every year in the days to come.

Speaking at the inaugural session of Wing India 2022, a civil aviation show being held here, Scindia also said the operators need to include more wide-bodied aircraft to their fleet in order to connect several global points.

Exuding confidence about air traffic figures rebounding, the minister said the number of domestic passengers is expected to touch 4.10 lakh per day by next year and will surpass that number by 2024-25 as the airline industry is in a "V" shaped recovery.

"India is looking at tremendous expansion. Expansion in the area of airlines, expansion in the area of airports. And therefore fleet augmentation is also important . A country that had a fleet of only 400 aircraft in the year 2013-14 has grown to a fleet of 710 aircraft in the last seven years with an addition of 310 aircraft. And we intend to add at least 110 to 220 aircraft per year as we go forward," Scindia said.

A senior official of Airbus had on Thursday said the European aircraft maker expects that India will need over 2200 aeroplanes in the next two decades.

According to the minister, currently India has about 9000 pilots, out of which 15 per cent are women. This number was way ahead of the global benchmark of five per cent.