..:: India Strategic ::. Civil Aviation: Bombardier strategises to expand

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Editorial

Bombardier strategises to expand it’s Indian market

By Sangeeta Saxena

Published :March 2014

Singapore. When Indian budget airline – SpiceJet launched the Bombardier Q400 in India for the first time on regional routes and managed to achieve an 88% load factor in the first two weeks of operations, little would they have realized that India would become the singlelargest turboprop market outside Europe and would see a demand for about 640 aircraft in the 60-140-seater category over the next twenty years.

“India is one of the largest individual markets in the world since China has become less of a turboprop market and is more a market for jets. It is possible to achieve the lowest seat mile cost when you fly the Q400. People are relooking at the value of the turboprop aircraft, ” Torbjorn Karlsson, Vice-President, Asia Pacific, Bombardier told India Strategic.

The Indian aviation market, said Karlsson, had changed over the years and Bombardier’s Q400 aircraft, CRJ and the new C-series aircraft had got tremendous potential in the region. “Q400 can fly safely in tough terrains like mountains even on one engine. This is something we can do and our competitors cannot. We are the only ones to have designed the aircraft to do this. And Pratt&Whitney 150 engine is the reason,” he added.

Despite consensus that India needs to upgrade its Tier II and III airport infrastructure and that the Indian airline industry need to pressure the government to open up more markets that essentially look beyond the narrow body jets currently deployed, Karlsson assesses that the Indian market has plenty of room to grow and is essentially is a regional market. “ It is a great opportunity for us and we clearly believe that with the number of trusted commercial discussions we are having and the right timing Bombardier will be able to announce deals in future.”

Over the next 20 years, Bombardier forecasts over 4,740 deliveries in Asia-Pacific (including Greater China and India), with specifically 1,340 business jet deliveries in India. The demand, driven by economic growth, globalization and the increase in the number of billionaires in those markets, is expected to rise even further. With the industry’s most comprehensive product portfolio and a commitment to leadership in customer satisfaction, Bombardier continues to grow its leadership position in the business aviation industry. From light jets to large, ultra long-range aircraft, Bombardier offers a solution to all customers, whatever their requirements may be.

Currently, about 275 Bombardier Dash 8/Q-Series turboprops, CRJ regional jets and CSeries airliners are in service with, or on firm order from, over 35 customers and operators in the Asia-Pacific region, excluding China. These aircraft are all optimized for the markets they are designed to serve, and Bombardier Commercial Aircraft’s regional sales and marketing team is positioned both in Singapore and Mumbai to provide industry-leading solutions to current and prospective customers. The long-term outlook for India and the Asia-Pacific region shows upward market trends will prevail. Bombardier’s Commercial Aircraft Market Forecast covering aircraft from 20 to 149 seats predicts that the Asia- Pacific region, excluding China, will represent approximately 16 per cent - or 2,020 units - of the global market from 2013 to 2032.

Over the past 10 years, real GDP growth in India averaged almost 8%, making it one of the fastest growing economies within the G-20. This strong economic growth led to a rapid rise in the number of business aircraft operating in India.

But within India, commercial aviation does an inadequate job of connecting second and third-tier cities, creating a great opportunity for business aviation to save time and increase business traveler’s productivity through pointto- point travel. Bombardier is planning to expand it’s services in the gaping market of the North East , Central India and North of Delhi. However, India’s business aviation growth potential in the near term is being weighed down by high fees, taxes and bureaucracy. While executives and entrepreneurs increasingly see corporate aviation as a valuable business tool, India’s civil aviation ministry has yet to fully recognize the positive impact that business aviation can have on the Indian economy. Another hurdle for business aircraft is the limited number of FBOs available to support business jet operations and the insufficient parking and hangar space at existing airports.

“We are working closely with the civil aviation authority in India and the Indian government. They have asked for our inputs on how to stimulate traffic. A decade ago, flying was seen as something you did only if you had money. Now, the Indian government has realised the importance of connecting cities. In such a scenario, turboprop aircraft, particularly, will have an important role,” he said. Bombardier has two customers in India — Air India which has four CRJ-700 aircraft and SpiceJet, which flies 15 Q400 NextGen turboprop aircraft.