* Turkish turns to partner airlines to boost India flights

* Wizz Air aims to launch first India flight in 2025

* International passengers to grow to 160 million by 2030

* Local carriers IndiGo, Air India expand with new planes

* Aircraft lessor DAE says India demand “unlike” elsewhere

DUBAI/NEW DELHI, June 14 (Reuters) – 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 300 million passengers from a record 152 million in
2023, according to government data.

International traffic is set to grow faster, reaching 160
million passengers by 2030 from 64 million 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.

HUGE FLEET GROWTH

India’s total aircraft fleet is expected to increase to more
than 1,500 by 2030 from around 700 currently, with most planes
financed through sale and leaseback deals, making the country
attractive to aircraft lessors.

“The demand growth is unlike what we see in any other
jurisdictions,” Firoz Tarapore, CEO at aircraft leasing company
Dubai Aerospace Enterprise told Reuters in Dubai.

“If you say that (fare) price discipline is good and demand
is on a secular uptrend then I think it’s a market that we as a
lessor community will want to be part of that growth,” he said.

The government is backing up this growth with an investment
of about $12 billion in new and upgraded airports.

“India is taking its place on the world stage,” said IndiGo
CEO Pieter Elbers, talking to reporters on the sidelines of the
IATA meet. Elbers moved to India two years ago, leaving his
position as CEO of Dutch carrier KLM.

Such is the buzz around India, some big international
airlines are frustrated at a lack of market access. Emirates and
Turkish Airlines want more flight capacity rights in India, but
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government is prioritising
domestic carriers.

“In the end, you are compromising the strength of your
economy by restricting access not only of Emirates, but all
foreign carriers,” Emirates President Tim Clark said at the
Dubai conference.

Much of India’s travel growth is expected to come from its
huge diaspora of 35 million people, who mostly live in North
America, Europe and South Africa, as well as a growing crop of
adventurous, young Indian travellers with rising incomes.

“This coming decade is India’s decade for growth,”
independent aviation analyst Brendan Sobie said, adding that
India could experience the kind of travel surge China witnessed
in the decade prior to the COVID pandemic.
(Reporting by Aditi Shah and Shivansh Tiwary; Additional
reporting by Tim Hepher, Alex Cornwell and Lisa Barrington in
Dubai; Editing by Joe Brock and Sonali Paul)

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