India’s under-served market demand combined with the slew of new aircraft orders means that the industry is set for rapid expansion and diversification, the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA) says but adds that the, “government prevarication over introducing new, much needed infrastructure has the potential to nip much of the growth in the bud”.

In its CAPA Global Strategy Report, July-August 2017 released on Tuesday, the leading aviation advisory, research and knowledge practice calls on the government to fast-track decisions on the construction of second airports in key cities, or at least notify land so that suitable sites are available when required.

“In Chennai, the site for a second airport has not yet been finalised, which means that operations are still several years away. Similarly, Pune is another airport that is already congested, and where a solution in the form of new airports is yet to be determined,” the report says.

The report points out that the order book of India’s airlines is likely to reach 1,123 aircraft following expected orders for 100 aircraft each by Jet Airways and Vistara. The CAPA report also points out that with the 40 largest airports in the country likely to be saturated within the next decade, “securing slots for key domestic routes will become more challenging”.

It estimates that most of the 40 largest airports in the country would have exceeded their design capacities within the next decade, and for several of the larger metro airports this could happen sooner.

Turning its attention to the international operations of Indian carriers CAPA forecasts that over the next 18 months AirAsia India, GoAir and Vistara could be joining the five Indian airlines that currently operate on international routes.

The report points out that the five Indian airlines operating international routes serve a combined total of just “40 destinations” on a non-stop basis. The report adds that for an economy of India’s size, this represents a relatively small footprint compared with the networks operated by Gulf carriers.

As a result, a majority of the close to 60 million annual international passengers to and from India travel on foreign carriers with around 40 per cent connecting via offshore hubs.

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