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Joost van der Heijden, Head of Airline Marketing
of Airbus for India and Southeast Asia, explained,
“India’s decision to put A380 into operation
will give the passengers a unique experience.
It will be the only aircraft with the kind of
growth in India’s international market. It
is not only the most spacious but also the quietest,
both inside and outside. It has been awarded by
UK’s national noise reduction charity, the
Noise Abatement Society for reduced noise around
airport communities. At a special event held at
the House of Commons in London, the Society presented
Airbus with the John Connell Silent Approach Award
for the A380 and its innovations in quiet technology.”
The fully double-decker plane which can seat
850 passengers in an all-economy configuration,
but those having a three-class configuration can
accommodate between 550-600 passengers. The A-380s
would now be allowed to airports at Delhi, Mumbai,
Hyderabad and Bangalore, which are equipped to
handle them and have the required infrastructure.
“India is the strongest market in the
world. It’s potential is enormous. In India,
one in twenty travel by air. There is a relationship
between people travelling and economic growth.
Even a small increase in disposable household
income leads to a very strong increase in air
travel and India is a great example of this,”
he added.
Joost was optimistic that India is also the
most dynamic markets in the world. “We see
a growth in the local sector. Trend is that both
segments develop expansion of Indian airlines.
Single aisle A320 family is the most popular in
India and now there is an increase in demand for
A321. We are discussing with our potential customers
on upgradation of A320 Neo and A320 into A321.
Last year in 2013, the number of aircraft upgraded
to A321 were six hundred worldwide. In India,
Air India is operating twenty A321 and Indigo
has twenty on order. Additional seating capacity
and revenue generation make A321 very lucrative,”
he informed.
Joost proudly claimed that Airbus had 70 per
cent of India’s market share. “We expect
the Indian proportion of wide bodied aircraft
in the fleet to increase. Today there are 15 per
cent wide bodied in the Indian market and we expect
that proportion to more than double. Some very
big high volume routes are there for international
market. In India, A330 is flying in the domestic
flights. We are in the process of developing a
longer range A330 for long haul for Europe, Australia
and South Asia for larger markets. A350 and A380
are suitable aircraft for expansion in the Indian
airlines. We are in very regular discussions with
customers and potential customers. A350 is undergoing
a flight test and the first delivery is planned
later this year to Qatar,” he stated.
And the news of the year is that Airbus is
developing a regional version with which it could
enter the lucrative regional aviation growing
market, the need of the hour to connect the major
cities of the region. “We are also developing
a regional version with lower take off rate, lower
landing and navigation speed and lower engine
thrust for lower maintenance cost. It has 400
seats and we are also working on the cabin to
tailor it to the need of the regional market.
It will be for both domestic and international
routes and we are sure it will be a popular mode
of travel in the region,” Joost van der Heijden
reiterated.
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