THE BIG FIGHT MOVES TO INDIA

The age old fight between the Airbus industrie and Boeing.Co seems to be a never ending one with the new battle field taking shape int the form of India. With the Open sky policy, the Indian aviation industry has seen a boom in the recent past(needless to say, unmatched by a stagnant physical infrastructure). The years 2003 and 2004 saw the emergence of many new low cost carriers. Though some of them still run on leased aircraft the market for planes grew tremendously.It all started with the state owned Air India entering into an agreement with Boeing to buy 50 and odd aeroplanes from the latter.

When Indigo airlines stated in a press release that it is going to buy 100 A-320s(a huge chunk) , Airbus realised that India is no more a penny market but has the potential to be its no. 1 market and soon started exploring the possibilities of setting up MRO(maintenance repair and overhaul)facilities in the country to attract more buyers. Kingfisher Airline's decision to buy 5 Airbus A-380s(the super jumbo) only came as a confirmation to the Airbus's idea. The end of 2005 saw the emergence of Jet Airways as a good player in the private sector which gave them the confidence to invest in a few birds from the Boeing.Co to extend its services to the gulf and the south east asian nations.

The year 2006 was a period of consolidation for the aviation industy seeing mergers, buyouts and public issues . The busy stalls of the Airbus and Boeing at the Aero India show clearly shows the intentions of the two rivals. But would the poor infrastructure at airports be able to keep up with the pace with which the industry is growing? With the cost of air turbine fuel increasing by the day, would the low cost carriers be able to sustain themselves in this highly competitive market? Well. The answers to these questions is definitely going to determine the future moves of the two airline manufacturers.

Well, anything happens in the future or not, currently a flight ticket to New Delhi seems to be far more cheaper than an AC train ticket. So live the present and enjoy as long as it is available to you(m not talking abt the 1Re tickets, surely not).