'Delhi's T3 to kickstart flurry of new airports'

India will grow at a tremendous pace in the coming years and the economic boom and infrastructure development will ring in change in the country, said Majid Al Mualla, senior vice president, Emirates airlines.

India will grow at a tremendous pace in the coming years and the economic boom and infrastructure development will ring in change in the country, said Majid Al Mualla, senior vice president, Emirates airlines.

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This means huge opportunities for airline companies, Mualla told HT on board Emirates' special A-380 flight to the capital last week.

"The inauguration of Delhi airport's Terminal 3 will set the ball rolling for many new airports in the country. The growth of the Indian middle class has provided huge opportunities for every airline and Emirates has always been the one to grab opportunities," he said.

Mualla said his company expected a 10-15 per cent growth in India operations this year. After Dubai, the airline has majority of its operations in India, followed by the UK and Australia.

Emirates completes 25-years of India operations in October.

"Growth in India has been tremendous during the last five years," Maulla said. "The load factor is above 80 per cent on our flights and traffic coming out of the country is not only the traditional labour to the Middle East. We have seen tremendous growth in traffic to the United States, Europe and even leisure destinations like Mauritius and Seychelles."

The West Asia and India Ocean region contributes 12.4 per cent to the company's revenues and the majority of this comes from India, he said.