Airbus has ensured that it will supply over 1,200 commercial planes to Indian carriers in the coming decade, with an average of about 120 jets per year or over two jets every week. This perspective was declared by Jurgen Westermeier, President and Managing Director of Airbus India and South Asia, on the fringes of Wings India 2026 in Hyderabad, highlighting a significantly large aircraft supply commitment in the world.
The Indian airline backlog is currently about 1,250 aircrafts with Airbus alone, the biggest single country backlog that the company has in the world. This strong pipeline is an indication of vigorous fleet growth strategies among large carriers, in particular, IndiGo and Air India, that are capacity-adding and expanding their international routes. According to Aviation Week and The Times of India, Airbus expects India to emerge as one of its best delivery markets, with deliveries accounting for upwards of 10% of its global output in the coming years.
The Indian fleet of commercial airliners, which is now approximately 850 airliners, is estimated to reach a figure of 2,250 aircraft by the year 2035, as per sources, such as Reuters and The Economic Times. Such a growth trend is facilitated by the good economic fundamentals, an expanding middle-income demographics, and an enormous increase in first-time flyers amongst local and international markets. The rate of increase in passenger traffic is projected to be 8.9% CAGR by FY27, as projected by CareEdge and ETWorld for the coming decade.
With this delivery cadence, as reported by Forbes India, airlines are gearing up to take on larger types of aircraft - between A320 families and A321XLR and even wider-body A350. This is to balance domestic point-to-point flights akin to long-haul worldwide services. This rollout will focus on increasing airport infrastructure, crew training pipelines, and maintenance ecosystems to enable a far greater operating fleet.
According to aviation analyst Rohit Nair, Senior Director of CAPA - Centre for Aviation,
"The Indian aviation industry has a watershed in the delivery plan of Airbus. It reflects not just a spike in demand but structural changes as airlines are transforming from regional carriers to global network players. Nevertheless, the industry will have to increase the pilot training scale, the technical manpower scale, and the MRO capacity simultaneously to achieve reliability and safety during operations."
The commentary by Nair emphasises that the commitment to delivery is impressive, but comes with complex challenges of implementation.
Competing OEM forecasts like Boeing’s projection of 3,290 new jets in India and South Asia over the next 20 years highlight the intense competitive landscape and enormous market potential. These also indicate the rebalancing of Indian carriers since the pandemic, where replacement cycles are not as strong as forceful capacity growth.
Overall, the promise of Airbus to deliver more than 1,200 aircraft to India until 2035 marks a liberation stage for the aviation industry in the country. With India set to become the third-largest aviation market in the world by 2035, as reported by Reuters, this surge in aircraft deliveries, fleet size, and passenger growth will highlight the country’s evolving status as a key hub in the Asia-Pacific aviation ecosystem.
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