Boeing said India’s air traffic will grow by an average of seven per cent per year till 2040 even as the country’s carriers face challenges like high fuel prices, rupee depreciation and low fares.
The aircraft manufacturer’s India president Salil Gupte said that while India’s air traffic will grow 6.9 per cent till 2040, the south-east Asian market will grow at an average annual rate of 5.5 per cent.
The Chinese, African and the Latin American market will grow at an average annual rate of 5.4 per cent, 5.4 per cent and 4.8 per cent till 2040, he added.
India has the lowest average fares in the world for similar distances. 70 per cent of the airline’s operational costs is priced in foreign currency.
India has nearly 23 million people travelling on trains every day and even if one per cent of them shifts towards aviation, the air traffic will double. India’s air cargo market has “massive untapped potential”.