'Worst is over for Indian airlines'

All discussions on the Indian airline industry since 2008 have been hovering around mounting losses, downsizing, aircraft delivery postponement,
Kiran Rao, President, Airbus India
cost-cutting and capacity rationalisation losses. The turbulence is finally behind us and the buzz on expansion, hiring and new aircraft orders is in the air, feels Kiran Rao, president of Airbus India and executive vice-president in charge of sales and marketing at the parent company. His logic behind the turnaround?
The language of customers has changed. No more are they talking about postponing aircraft deliveries or leasing out aeroplanes. Instead, they are talking about traffic coming back and the need to advance deliveries of planes. There is some overcapacity left in certain segments, but aircraft cannot be delivered overnight.
If an aircraft is ordered today, it takes 2-3 years for it to be delivered. Airlines understand this time-cycle and, hence, they are working ahead. In the case of Airbus A350, which is the most modern wide-body aircraft that is about to go into production now, the wait could be as long as five years.
The view at Airbus is that the Indian airline companies have recovered from the global slowdown and the industry will experience rapid growth in the next 4-5 years. Mr Rao cites steady improvement in load factor as a key indicator.
“In the past six months, we have seen load factors increase and yields improve. With a little more improvement in yields, there will be a strong and vibrant airline industry in the country,” Mr Rao says.
06/03/10 Economic Times

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Categories: Foreign Mar 2010, Indian Aviation- In General Mar 2010