With around 242 aircraft expected to be delivered to Indian carriers over the next five years between 2010 and 2014, Boeing and Airbus are locked in battle over market share.

According to Boeing India president Dinesh Keskar, the company is supposed to deliver an additional 100 aircraft to its Indian customers over the next five years. Talking to FE, Keskar said, ?We have not had any cancellations from India and so far our orders are intact.? Boeing?s main customer is National Aviation Company of India, which alone accounts for 68 aircraft orders.

Airbus is slated to deliver 142 aircraft according to a company official. This would take its share to around 54% of the total 680 aircraft expected to be in operation. Airbus? primary customer in India is Kingfisher Airlines.

Of the total 440 aircraft in use today, Airbus accounts for 223 or 51%, while close to 220 aircraft come from the Boeing stable. In 2005, Indian carriers were operating close to 200 aircraft and Keskar estimates that the country will need around 1000 aircraft, valued currently at close to $100 billion (Rs 470,000 crore), over the next 20 years.

Airbus delivered its first aircraft in 1976 to the erstwhile Indian Airlines, and with carriers like Kingfisher Airlines, Jet Airways and Air India, among its current crop of customers, the company estimates that the country will need around 992 aircraft by 2026.

The company also adds that of the 365 orders it has procured over the last 30 years, it has delivered around 50% of the order size and has yet to deliver 142 aircraft. Though the aerospace major did not mention a time frame, it is understood that Indian carriers in an expansion mode will need these aircraft within five years.

Currently there are 440 aircraft in the Indian skies and with the new set of aircraft, India?s aircraft fleet size will increase to 683. According to a recent KPMG report, the capacity at the Delhi, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkatta airports, once their modernisation is complete, will be around 263 million passengers. The capacity at these airports today approximately stands at 100 million passengers.

According to Boeing India?s website, in 2006, Air India had made an order of $11 billion (Rs 51,700 crore) for 68 aircraft, considered the largest commercial order in India?s civil aviation history. Jet Airways has an order for ten 787 Dreamliners.

The airline had also finalised an order for 20 737-800, valued at nearly $1.5 billion (Rs 7,050 crore) in 2007. In the same year, Jet also announced exercising options for three 777-300 ER aircraft. Valued at more than $790 million (Rs 3,713 crore) at list prices, this order follows a previous one for 10 777-300ERs in September 2005, for a combined 13 777-300ERs.

In 2005, SpiceJet had placed an order for 20 Boeing 737-800. The firm had placed a firm order for ten, valued at $630 million (Rs 2,961 crore) at list prices, and had options for ten more. In 2006, the New Delhi-based carrier announced that it had converted its ten options into an order for five 737-800s and five 737-900ERs. The order is valued at over $700 million (Rs 3290 crore) at list prices.