A report, earlier this year, noted that the TATA Group is in talks with the European plane manufacturer, Airbus, for the procurement of its wide-bodied A350XWB planes. The TATAs now have four entities under a single umbrella- including AirAsia India, Vistara, Air India Express and Air India.
Another report by Zee News on April 3 stated Etihad Airways adding four more A350-1000 (A6-XWB) Airbus in near future while the Airlines also announced its further plan to deploy new A350-1000s on a number of short to mid-range routes in Q2, including Mumbai and Delhi in India.
Tatas are Airbus’s partner in the defence business too, said Remi Maillard, president and MD of Airbus India & South Asia.
Last year, the Defence Ministry signed a deal worth around Rs 20,000 crores with Airbus Defence and Space of Spain to procure 56 C-295 medium transport aircraft, of which, 40 planes are to be manufactured in India by a consortium of the Airbus Defence and Space and Tata Advanced Systems Limited (TASL).
India’s Focus on Wide-Body Fleet
Currently, Vistara and Air India are the only ones to have wide-bodied aircraft in their fleet in India while this type of fleet, in the country, has remained constant for the past twenty years in comparison to the narrow-body fleet, says Maillard.
As compared to narrow-bodied aircraft like A320neo, Airbus A350 is a long-range, wide-body airliner, with larger fuel tanks that allow them to travel long distances. The aircraft can travel above 8,000 nautical miles, with a flying time of approximately 18 hours in one flight and is powered by two Trent XWB turbofan engines.
Speaking at the inaugural session of Wing India 2022, Union Civil Aviation Minister, Jyotiraditya Scindia, said Indian airline operators are expected to add 110 to 120 new aircraft every year in the days to come.
“It has been my urging to our airline operating companies that along with a thrust on narrow bodied aircraft, we must also increase our fleet of wide bodied aircraft because according to me it is not enough connecting all points in India, we need to connect the world to India and in that initiative, the Indian flag carrier must remain supreme and fly high by increasing long haul aircraft to touch every corner of the globe.”, said Scindia.
The Next Stage in India’s Civil Aviation
The Indian aviation market is dominated by low-cost carriers (LCCs) while India has predominantly narrow body aircraft, even Vistara and Air India’s fleet largely consists of narrow-body aircraft like the variants of the Boeing 737 or the Airbus A320.
The players would be able to connect the increasing number of regional aviation networks and hubs easily with the ability to carry higher passenger volumes with wide-body aircraft. On the other hand, providing carriers more revenue per available seat mile, wide-bodies on domestic routes prove to be a high yield option for airlines
The players would be able to connect the increasing number of regional aviation networks and hubs easily with the ability to carry higher passenger volumes with wide-body aircraft. On the other hand, providing carriers more revenue per available seat mile, wide-bodies on domestic routes prove to be a high yield option for airlines.
Enabling airlines to carry more passengers to airports with limited slots, a significant advantage at airports is also provided by them with restricted infrastructure usage.
Apart from the above, low operating costs is a demand put up by a competitive environment. This brings down the ticket costs which attracts more passengers. Improved fuel-efficiency not only contributes significantly to reducing the aerospace industry’s environmental footprint, but also reduces costs for airlines, and thus passengers.
The wide-body operating model for domestic travel has already been successfully used by Beijing and cost benefits have been seen by these airlines along with efficiency in catering to an ever-increasing base of air travellers that is similar to India. With regards to high-growth markets with concentrated traffic flows and large populations such as India and China, there is an immense potential for lower weight variants of wide-body aircrafts optimised for use on regional and domestic routes.
The benefits of wide-body aircrafts is unparalleled as there stands a growing demand from Indians increasingly choosing to travel abroad.
Multiple Factors to Decide Airbus’s Fate
When it comes to the long-haul international market out of India, Airbus is aggressively confident, says Maillard.
The A350XWB aircraft is equipped with around 300 to 410 seats in a three-class configuration. It has 25 percent less fuel consumption among all the wide-bodied aircraft while the airplane has the quietest cabin and full LED mood lighting and larger overhead bins.
Many factors are considered by carriers when investing in huge aircraft orders. Plane’s ability to transport cargo and passengers at minimal costs while offering safe operations as per industry standards along with economics lies at the top
Many factors are considered by carriers when investing in huge aircraft orders. Plane’s ability to transport cargo and passengers at minimal costs while offering safe operations as per industry standards along with economics lies at the top.
To grab the attention of Indian airlines, mainly Air India and Vistara, the A350-900 shall compete with Boeing 787-9. Both aircrafts have certain advantages over the other, the A350 has the capability of carrying more passengers in similar configurations for longer distances while the 787 offers better fuel efficiency and is cheaper on the pocket.
Considering the pool of pilots and crew trained for 787s and 777s, it is argued that Boeing would be a much better choice for Air India but retraining pilots for the A350 will not be as tricky as it seems, claims Airbus. Air India and Vistara already have plenty of trained A320 pilots and considering this, it might vaguely take a few days for them to transition to the A350 instead of a few weeks if they were to start from scratch.
For the AI
Vistara’s US ambitions have been put on hold by production delays by Boeing while Air India is limited by the short range of its 787-8 Dreamliners, so the acquisition of Air India by the TATAs is of significance not just to the Indians but also to airplane manufacturers.
An opportunity to make inroads into India’s wide-body market has been sensed by Airbus while Boeing will try to make amends to its future deliveries
An opportunity to make inroads into India’s wide-body market has been sensed by Airbus while Boeing will try to make amends to its future deliveries.
Union Civil Aviation Minister had earlier said that “the fleet size of India’s civil airlines is expected to increase by 110-120 aircraft annually in the upcoming years for meeting the increasing demand for air travel in the country”
Indian aviation stands at the cusp of a new era. The public sector airlines, Indian Airlines and Air India were the ones to lead the first phase while the next phase witnessed the open sky era when an imprint by the private sector was made on Indian skies. Now, the current era lays its focus on innovation, sustainability, consolidation, responsible flying, customer comfort and rightly so.
– The writer is an Aerospace and Defence Analyst & Director ADD Engineering Components (India) Pvt Ltd (An Indo- German Company). The views expressed are of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Raksha Anirveda
-The author is a Defence, Aerospace & Political Analyst based in Bengaluru. He is also Director of ADD Engineering Components, India, Pvt. Ltd, a subsidiary of ADD Engineering GmbH, Germany. You can reach him at: girishlinganna@gmail.com. The views expressed are personal and do not necessarily carry the views of Raksha Anirveda
