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Dr.Kiran Rao
Executive Vice President
Airbus Industrie |
Aeroindianews.com,
the official online show daily of Aero India 2007 spoke with
Dr. Kiran Rao, Executive Vice President, Airbus Industrie on
Airbus’ sales success in India and future plans.
AeroIndianews.com: The past couple of years have been excellent for Airbus in India. Can you elaborate please?
Dr. Kiran Rao:
Yes. Last year India accounted for 30% of Airbus’ global orders and
this year it is 20%. We now have our aircraft in service with
Indian (Airlines) as well as private airlines such as Kingfisher,
Air Deccan and Indigo. India is one of our two big growth markets
(the other being China) and we are committed to the growth of its
civil aviation sector.
AeroIndianews.com: Coming after many years of trying hard to achieve sales in India, this must be particularly exciting.
Dr. Kiran Rao: Yes. It is. For
years we did not have orders from India. But during the 90s we
worked very hard to build relationships with our customers and now
when there is tremendous growth in the airline industry it is
working to our advantage. India is now one of Airbus’ biggest
markets in the world.
AeroIndianews.com: Sales orders from India are down as compared to last year. What are you doing about it.
Dr. Kiran Rao:
After the huge orders we received from Indian and other private
carriers- Air Deccan, Kingfigher and others in 2005- we are not in
the big selling mode this year. At the moment the focus is on
meeting our delivery commitments and setting up infrastructure to
service these aircraft. We need to be able to provide the kind of
service that customers expect of us and that is what we are working
on. We are delivering aircraft at more than 10 every month in
India and that is amazing. Every time I meet a representative of
our customers in our manufacturing facility in France, they are
there to pick up a plane.
AeroIndianews.com: What kind us infrastructure and support services are you setting up.
Dr. Kiran Rao:
We have training centre planned for launch in 2007 as also a spares
centre. A Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) centre is the next
in line around 2008. So you see there are big investments going
into India that reflects a deep commitment on the part of Airbus.
The training centre will train pilot, maintenance engineers and crew
and will be equipped with three flight simulators. The MRO is being
set up along with an Indian partner and will be one of the biggest
facilities of its kind in
Asia. We aim to provide total support for the A320, A330 and
A340 aircraft right here in India
AeroIndianews.com: Do you have plans to have a corporate set-up in India to take care of your investments.
Dr. Kiran Rao:
Yes. An Airbus subsidiary registered in India may be set up within
the next couple of years. This will coordinate all our activities.
The company will come up in
Bangalore
and will have some 200 plus employees to start with and over 500 in
a few years. This may go up to 1000 employees early next decade.
This is a major improvement over our present set-up which is a
liaison office. The
India
subsidiary will be set up close to the proposed new airport in
Bangalore.
AeroIndianews.com:
Do you have offsets commitments as part of your huge order for
Indian.
Dr. Kiran Rao:
Yes. We will be implementing offsets worth almost US$ 600 million by
giving contracts to Indian companies. This will go on till 2020 to
complete the projects. Aside of the offsets, a program to build
Airbus A320 doors in HAL, Bangalore has now grown into a big
stand-alone order. HAL is one of the biggest contractors to build
A320 doors, delivering 14 sets a month. This means it manufactures
nearly 30% of the global order for A320 doors.
AeroIndianews.com: Can you tell us about the A380 program in India?
Dr. Kiran Rao:
Kingfisher Airlines has ordered one in India and this is a big
development for us here. The A380 is a completely new way of flying
and will bring mass-air transportation to India. It will be
exciting to see how the infrastructure develops for the A380 and
this will have a positive effect on the entire civil aviation sector
in India.
AeroIndianews.com:
What are your views on Aero India show.
Dr. Kiran Rao:
The show is getting bigger and bigger and I am happy to learn that
the next edition will have equal emphasis on civil aviation. We
look forward to welcoming our guests at Aero India 07.
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