Thursday, December 07, 2017

Demand for small aircraft to skyrocket

The demand for smaller aircraft is expected to soar with the Regional Connectivity Scheme (Udan) taking off in the coming months. With airlines ordering smaller planes like ATR and Bombardier to connect tier II and tier III cities, the number of these aircraft traversing the skies will increase in the coming months.
Bombardier will supply 75 aircraft to SpiceJet, ATR will supply 50 planes to Jet Airways and Indigo has started taking delivery of its first ATR plane of the 50 ordered, making India one of the biggest market for small planes.
In addition to these, regional carriers like Air Odisha, Turbo Megha and others will take aircraft on lease to fly on routes that they had bagged as part of the scheme. It is estimated that airlines would deploy more than 200 small aircraft in the next eight years.
"There is going to be a boom in the use of small planes in India because of the regional connectivity scheme. Seventy to 90-seater planes will be ideal for the scheme to connect small towns because if the planes are any smaller, the cost per seat per mile will go up. If the scheme is a success, growth rate can touch 8%," a senior official of an aircraft company said.ATR aircraft, with their capability to land at remote airfields, are popular among airlines. The ATR on display at the Dubai Air Show had ultra-light seats that bring down the overall weight of the aircraft and make them cost effective to fly on short routes.
07/12/17 Times of India

To Read the News in full at Source, Click the Headline

0 comments:

Post a Comment