NEW DELHI: At a event marking the closure of the three-day annual general meeting of the International Air Transport Association CEO of Indigo, Pieter Elbers said that India is functioning as a growth engine of the South East Asian Region due to the surge in air traffic from the country to Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore.
Briefing newspersons on June 3 along with Willie Walsh, the Director General of International Air Transport Association (IATA) Elbers said, “The growth in India was not only domestic but also facilitated regional growth.”
The pattern of air traffic taking place presently used to occur in the past between India and the Middle East, he added.
“The connectivity is generating new traffic and new opportunities,” the CEO said.
Indigo had added many new flights between India and Southeast Asia and the response has been overwhelming in both directions.
Reiterating this aspect to newspersons later, Elbers said, “We have seen an enormous growth of the domestic market. The opportunity in the international market is even more. Around 60 to 65 per cent of the world’s population lives within a range of 5 to 6 hours flying time from India and that includes the entire South East Asia. The opportunity is massive.”
To a query on India’s response to the environmental challenges faced by the airline industry, Walsh said, “If you look at the fleet and operation in India, it is a very young relative to the rest of the world. And with the new aircraft that have been ordered, the average age of the aircraft operating in India continue to remain as probably one of the youngest fleets in the world.”
"India has the right environment to produce Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF). What excites me about India is the coordinated approach to economic growth and development, where the government is looking at all aspects of the economy to see where they can take advantage of changing technology, changing behaviours to secure the future for India,” he said.
When asked if the goal of net zero emissions by the airline industry would be met by 2050, the Director General said the deadline remains a massive challenge.
The wider value chain needs to support the industry to meet the challenge and more co-ordinated action needs to be taken by the governments, he added.
"It is a wake-up call now and all partners in the chain need to show more action,” he highlighted.
"Mandates issued in this connection have merely increased the cost for airlines without any environmental benefits", he added.
Elbers added that the objective of hosting the IATA meet in India after 42 years was to showcase the massive change that India had undergone over the decades.