India’s domestic air passenger market is expected to double its size by 2030 from the pre-pandemic level, aircraft manufacturer Boeing said on Wednesday. ”We saw a 55 percent decrease in domestic passenger traffic through 2020. Our forecasts are showing that during the next 10 years, by 2030, the Indian domestic market is expected to double the size of the 2019 market. It is quite remarkable,” said David Schulte, managing director of Regional Marketing, Boeing Commercial Airplanes.

If we compare the Indian domestic traffic today to the 2020 normal levels, we are seeing today’s traffic at about 76 percent to those levels, he stated during the press briefing on the commercial market outlook for India. Indian airline companies, just like their global peers, have been badly hit due to the pandemic-induced crisis. To survive these tough times, all Indian carriers took cost-cutting measures like firings or pay cuts in 2020.

Schulte noted that there would be demand for more than 2,200 new commercial aircraft in the next 20 years in India due to ”growing economy and expanding middle class”. ”With greater demand for domestic, regional and long-haul travel, we anticipate India’s commercial fleet will grow four-fold by 2039,” Schulte said.

India’s civil aviation industry will require nearly 90,000 new pilots, technicians and cabin crew personnel during the 20-year forecast period, with a growing number of women choosing to pursue aviation careers, he said.

The country’s air cargo growth is expected to average 6.3 percent annually over the next 20 years, driven by India’s manufacturing and e-commerce sectors, he noted.