Indian airline operators expected to add 120 new aircraft/year: Jyotiraditya Scindia

"India is looking at tremendous expansion. Expansion in the area of airlines, expansion in the area of airports. And therefore fleet augmentation is also important. A country that had a fleet of only 400 aircraft in the year 2013-14 has grown to a fleet of 710 aircraft in the last seven years with an addition of 310 aircraft. And we intend to add at least 110 to 220 aircraft per year as we go forward," Scindia said.

A senior official of Airbus had on Thursday said the European aircraft maker expects that India will need over 2200 aeroplanes in the next two decades. According to the minister, currently, India has about 9000 pilots, out of which 15 percent are women. This number was way ahead of the global benchmark of five percent.