India is expected to surpass Indonesia to become the largest operator of ATR aircraft in the world over the next few years, as the country prepares to double the number of airports, said Jean-Pierre Clercin, head of commercial for Asia Pacific, ATR.

Speaking to FE on the sidelines of the IATA AGM, Clercin said, “There are ongoing discussions that we are having with different players. From the market perspective, over the next 5-10 years, we can put up to 300 aircraft in India.”

IndiGo, the country’s largest airline, operates 48 ATRs while Alliance Air flies 22 of them and Fly 91 operates the remaining 2. At 70, India is the second largest market for ATR in the world with Indonesia being the largest with 100 ATR aircraft.

India aims to have 350 airports by 2047, up from about 157 at present, as part of the Viksit Bharat vision.

“It is a boom time for us. We have 1,450 planes flying all across the world and from that perspective (India’s) 70 is a very strong number. It is the second largest market in the world after Indonesia and it will be the biggest before 2030,” Clercin added.  

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Clercin further said that ATR could explore the possibility of having a manufacturing presence in India if there is a clear path about demand. The company has an assembly factory in Toulouse, France.

“We see that there is a strong market and we also see how we tap into that. We can’t put in additional resources if we don’t have clear visibility. It’s a chicken and egg situation. We only have one assembly facility globally, which is in Toulouse. We are open to discussion for having a facility in India,” Clercin added.

Compared to commercial jets, ATRs are smaller and are typically used to connect the hinterlands with a larger city. They are commonly used for regional routes and feeder flights, connecting smaller cities and airports to larger hubs.

IndiGo, for instance, operates ATRs on the Hyderabad-Nagpur-Hyderabad route, while Fly91 uses them on Goa-Pune-Goa route. With the launch of the UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik) scheme, which aims to promote regional air travel, smaller aircraft are expected to remain in demand over the next several years.