Meltdown not to hit aircraft sales: Boeing

Aircraft manufacturer Boeing is bullish about the Indian market in the long term, despite a down turn in the global economy, reports Samiran Saha.

Aircraft manufacturer Boeing is bullish about the Indian market in the long term, despite a down turn in the global economy. The company has projected a demand of 1,001 aircraft in India in the next 20 years.

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“The simultaneous down turn in the financial sector and the aviation industry would not affect our sales in India as we already have firm commitments from carriers in India,” Dinesh Keskar, vice-president, Boeing, said.

No airlines in India had cancelled or asked for deferred deliveries of their order, he said. “Officially none of our customers in India have asked for cancellations or deferring their deliveries.”

“Aviation is a cyclic business. Following the downturn there is bound to be an upswing. Since deliveries are spaced out over several years, I don’t think there will be a significant dip or cancellation in aircraft orders.”

Keskar said corporate and leisure travels have gone down in the recent past but feels that people would not stop flying altogether because the economy is in a bad shape.

While pointing out at a global trend, Keskar said airlines were opting for smaller and medium capacity aircraft instead of large ones.

"The trend is because more and more airlines want to fly their aircraft with full load rather than leaving their seats empty," Keskar added.