Published on: Feb 11, 2013 by Aparna Dutt Sharma, Chief Executive Officer, IBEF

Indian civil aviation sector has sustained its growth momentum with the domestic traffic growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 17 per cent from 2009 to 2011. In fact, if the sector is able to continue its growth trend, it could rank among the top three aviation markets in the world by 2020, as per a recently released report. It is believed that a strong market growth rate backed by the infrastructure expansion will fuel the growth of Indian civil aviation sector in the coming times.

In order to meet the rising demand, it is expected that airlines in India will need over 1,400 planes, worth US$ 175 billion, in the next twenty years. While the sector has already seen a fair amount of consolidation, experts are of a view that the recent increase of FDI up to 49 per cent in civil aviation will attract foreign investors towards the Indian market.

Moving with the right balance between supply and demand, it is expected that India’s civil aviation industry will continue to spread its wings in the long-term.