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Indian aviation takes off but growth weighs on airports
After a long rough patch, Indian aviation is finally booming, but that burst of growth is now taking a toll on the industry’s infrastructure.
High operating costs, intense competition and the collapse of Kingfisher Airlines had weakened both business and civil sectors in previous years, but recently the Indian market has turned a corner into the world’s fastest growing, largely thanks to supportive government policies.
India is currently the sole bright spot in Asia’s aviation sector, Neil Book, CEO at the largest independent aviation firm JSSI, told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Wednesday.
Private jet sales are up and the emerging middle/upper classes have witnessed double-digit growth rates in travel, he explained.
The upper middle class made up 8 percent of the population in 2015, and is set to hit 12 percent by 2020, according to Boston Consulting Group. Meanwhile, the ultra-high net worth population–defined as those whose net worth exceeds $50 million–stood at 178,000 in 2016 and will increase 57 percent by 2021, estimates Credit Suisse.
Unlike his predecessors, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has loosened industry restrictions that are set to increase new aircraft deliveries as well as in-service and used business jets, Book continued. Dustin Pedroia Jersey
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