Boeing on Wednesday said it has received an order of 85 aircraft from the Indian market including 787 Dreamliners and 737s.
Speaking to media persons on the sidelines of the 2nd international exhibition and conference on civil aviation, Dinesh Keskar, vice-president of Boeing International and president of Boeing India, said the order would include 787s for Air India, 787 Dreamliners for Jet Airways and 737s for Jet Airways, JetLite and Spice Jet. Out of the 85 orders, nine would get delivered this year and the rest would get delivered in the next couple of years.
However, Keskar said no fresh orders have been received so far for the current year.
Late next year, there would be recalibration of where profits are coming from, where the market is and what is the lead time of aircraft orders. Based on that, there may be some additional business from the Indian market, he added. Next year, Boeing expects some orders from aviation players. Right now, the Indian airline companies should digest what they have ordered for and gainfully employ them, Keskar said. ?Besides, they should also improve the utilisation levels for instance from 8 hours to 10 hours to further enhance their revenues,? he advised.
Talking about the aviation industry in general, he said, ?the worst is behind us.? January-February 2010 has been much better compared to the same period of the previous year in all respects. The passenger load factor was higher by 15%, fares charged by airlines, say between Mumbai-Delhi, was also higher by 15% and most importantly, the fuel prices were quite stable in the range of $70-$80.