Analysis: Record plane orders raise the stakes in India's aviation boom

Record plane orders by India's top two carriers show the country's untapped potential for air travel and its rise as an aviation superpower, but recent airline failures and rows over regulations suggest progress may not be smooth. Indian budget airline IndiGo announced at the Paris Airshow on Monday the biggest ever plane order by number of aircraft with a deal for 500 Airbus narrowbody jets. A day later, rival Air India firmed up an order for 470 Airbus and Boeing aircraft that, until Monday, had been the industry leading plane deal. With a total of almost 1,000 jet orders between them, IndiGo and Air India are betting an economic boom and growing middle class will spur demand for domestic air travel, and new jets will help them grab a bigger share of international traffic. The number of domestic air passengers in India is expected to surge to 350m by 2030, up from 144m in 2019, with international air travellers up to 160m from 64m in 2019, according to aviation consultancy CAPA India and government data. The number of airports in India is also set to climb to 200 over the next five years from 150 today, as the government looks to connect the country's remotest areas by air. "It is time to seize the skies," civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia told reporters in New Delhi on Tuesday, adding the new planes would help Indian airlines expand at home and across continents. IndiGo, which operates a fleet of 300 planes, is yet to take delivery of some 500 jets from previous orders with Airbus. This puts the total deliveries by planemakers to Indian carriers at more than 1,500 over the next decade and beyond - double India's existing fleet of 700 planes across all airlines.<br/>