'Make in India' at the heart of Airbus India strategy: Official

SINGAPORE: Airbus today said that the 'Make in India' is at the heart of its strategy for India, which is also a key market for the European aerospace giant.

"India is very important and a growing market with a lot of opportunities," Executive vice president and chief of sales at Airbus, Eric Schulz said.


"Given the potential of growth in air traffic, India is very high on our list," he said at a media briefing at the opening of the Singapore Airshow 2018 here.

The Singapore Airshow, the biggest such event in Asia, is held every two years.

For airplane manufacturers, Airbus and Boeing, the Asia- Pacific region is the biggest markets as they predict that the region will require 14,450 new aircraft in the next 20 years.

The region accounts for a third of Airbus' new business and an equal third of the company's order book.

The 'Make in India' movement, covering 25 sectors of economy, was launched by the Narendra Modi government in 2014 to encourage companies to manufacture their products in India.

Elaborating on the group's strategy, a company spokesperson said that every Airbus commercial aircraft produced today is partly made in India.

"We have created over 6,000 jobs across the Airbus supply chain across 47 suppliers in India. Airbus spends over USD 500 million on procurement of parts for its aircraft".

Airbus India Training Centre is expected to train up to 800 pilots and 200 maintenance engineers every year, said the spokesperson, citing fleet growth and pilot requirements over 20 years.

Airbus' engineering footprint in India includes over 400 engineers at the Bengaluru centre as well as three dedicated design centres with partners, involving 1,000 engineers.

Airbus is India's aircraft manufacturer of choice with 70 per cent of order backlog in the country. It is to deliver 545 planes over next 10 year, 515 of which are A320Neos, the spokesperson said.