NEW DELHI (Reuters) – Boeing Co (BA.N ) raised its projection for India’s aircraft orders to a record high on Wednesday, predicting the nation’s airline carriers would order up to 2,300 new planes worth $320 billion from global planemakers over the next 20 years. The US planemaker’s estimate for the period up to 2037 is about 9.5 percent higher than Boeing’s previous prediction made last year, when the company projected India would order up to 2,100 jets until 2036. “India sees dramatic fares and discounts, and that is going to hurt airlines more and more,” Dinesh Keskar, the senior vice president of Asia Pacific and India sales at Boeing Commercial Airplanes, told reporters on Wednesday. India’s domestic airline carriers like Vistara, a joint venture between Singapore Airlines (SIAL.SI) and India’s Tata Sons, as well as IndiGo and budget airline GoAir, are looking overseas for better returns. Boeing expects single-aisle planes, such as its 737 MAX, to account for 84 percent of all global planemakers’ new jet deliveries to India from 2018-2037, which is much higher than the global average.

Source: Egypt Independent December 19, 2018 12:22 UTC