“The expansion of airport infrastructure is progressing at an unprecedented scale, from greenfield airports in unserved pockets to major modernisation projects in our existing metro hubs, we are on track to have 200 operational airports by 2025,” he said at an event of the French Aerospace Industries Association (GIFAS).
Naidu said that the airlines have increased their capacity by almost 9% this year, with 240 million seats across both the domestic and international markets.
“This is just the tip of the iceberg, with over 1.4 billion people, a vast geographical expanse and growing economic corridors, India’s air traffic is geared up for a huge exponential growth in the coming future,” he said.
IndiGo, Air India and Akasa currently have an order book of close to 1,700 aircraft from Airbus and Boeing Aviation consultancy firm CAPA said that it will increase up to 2,000 by March 2025.
Naidu also said that the government was talking to the engine maker Pratt &Whitney (PW) to speed up the MRO (Maintenance Repair and Overhaul) process of the affected engines.
“It is a global problem, we are in close communication with them and we want to ensure that these grounded planes start as soon as possible. For a country like India, where the demand for air travel is growing, if more planes come into the fleet, we can offer more connectivity, and the air fares prices also get more affordable. So, it is a constant push from our side that we get the engine problem settled as soon as possible, and we are discussing it with PW,” he said.
More than 70 aircraft of IndiGo are grounded due to faults in PW engines while Go First last year declared bankruptcy blaming it on issues with the US aerospace manufacturer’s engines which powers the Airbus A320 neo aircraft.
