Global airlines bet on India travel boom

Global airlines are launching new flights and expanding schedules in India, betting the South Asian giant will become one of the hottest travel markets over the next decade, airline officials and analysts say. India, among the fastest-growing major aviation markets, took centre stage at the industry's largest gathering of global airline CEOs and aircraft leasing companies in Dubai last week, with domestic and international air travel surging. The domestic air travel market in India is expected to double to 300m passengers from a record 152m in 2023, according to government data. International traffic is set to grow faster, reaching 160m passengers by 2030 from 64m last year, estimates from aviation research group CAPA India show. To tap that growth, Turkish Airlines is evaluating flights between its southern beach town of Antalya and India, chairman Ahmet Bolat said at The International Air Transport Association (IATA) summit. Turkish Airlines may run the route through Sun Express, a carrier it operates jointly with Lufthansa, or through its Indian codeshare partner IndiGo, he said. Hungary-based budget carrier Wizz Air is aiming to launch its first flights to the country next year, CEO Jozsef Varadi told Reuters at a separate aviation conference in New Delhi last week, organised by CAPA India. The strong outlook has prompted India's two biggest airlines - budget carrier IndiGo and Tata Group's Air India - to place record orders for hundreds of new planes, which will largely be delivered over 10 years.<br/>