Indian Carriers Likely To Have Order Book For 2,000 Planes By March 2025: Report

Indian carriers are expected to have an order book for 2,000 planes by March next year, with long-term rapid growth for both domestic and international air traffic, according to a report on Friday.

The domestic airlines currently have an order book for close to 1,620 aircraft, including the 150 narrow-body Boeing 737 Max order announced by Akasa Air on Thursday, aviation research and consulting firm CAPA India said on Friday.

This order book, however, does not include SpiceJet as well as grounded carrier Go First, CAPA India said.

This is expected to rise to 2,000 aircraft by March 2025, it said.

This increase, according to CAPA India, will be achieved as a result of Air India converting some of its 370 options to firm orders every few months, supplemented by possible further orders by other Indian carriers.

In 2023, Indian airlines ordered more aircraft than those from any other country. And the total order book for Western aircraft is second only to the United States, it stated.

"India is set to be the most exciting aviation market of the 21st century, with long-term rapid growth for both domestic and international traffic," it said.

However, in order to support this once-in-a-generation growth, and the eventual induction of this expanding order book, Indian aviation will need further structural and institutional reforms, CAPA India noted.

In line with its early February projections last year, CAPA India said, Air India in late February announced that it would place an order for 470 aircraft, with an additional 370 options.

This was confirmed in June-2023, with the order comprising 400 narrow-body and another 70 wide-body planes.

In June 2023, IndiGo placed the largest order in aviation history, by number of aircraft, with an order of 500 A320neo family aircraft.

At that time, the carrier already had an outstanding order book of 488 aircraft, taking Its total to just shy of 1,000, the highest of any airline in the world, CAPA India said.

The current Indian order book is more than 2.5 times the size of the number of aircraft in service, CAPA India said, adding this is by far the highest ratio in the world, reflecting the optimism about future growth.

Airlines have the confidence to place larger orders because the penetration of air travel in India is by far the lowest among the world's 20 largest domestic markets, reflecting massive upside potential, it said.

India is in a unique position, in terms of scale, growth and geography. It will need to decide what kind of aviation market it seeks to be and chart a path towards achieving that, it said.