Airbus to tap into Indian market

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Airbus is to take advantage of India's rapidly expanding aviation market by investing heavily over the next decade.

Its plans involve setting up a training school for pilots and an engineering centre, both of which will be based in India's hi-tech centre, Bangalore.

The news came as Airbus forecast that India would see passenger numbers surge by 7.7% to 2025 - the biggest expansion worldwide, outstripping China.

Airbus predicted India would need 1,100 planes worth $105bn by 2025.

The majority of these - 935 - will be for passengers, while the remaining 165 will be for cargo.

'Strong demand'

Reports put the Airbus investment figure at $1bn (£508m; 752m euros) over 10 years, including $300m for the pilot centre and $250m for an engineering centre.

"Strong demand in India is being unleashed by air transport deregulation, the emergence of a number of new operators, lower fares and a large untapped demand for air travel," Airbus chief operating officer John Leahy told the AFP news agency.

The 7.7% growth in Indian passenger numbers predicted by Airbus is well above the world average of 4.8% and just above China's 7.2% forecast growth.

More than half of the planes in India are currently run by Airbus, the firm said.

The firm's plans in India come after news that it has won a multi-billion dollar deal in China for 150 of its A320 plans, including some to be assembled in China.

Airbus has been developing its A380 aircraft as a rival to Boeing's 747 jumbo plane.

But the programme has been fraught with difficulties and delays have caused some major airlines to cancel or renegotiate orders.