Page 22 - AAA JULY-AUGUST 2012 Online Magazine

FEATURE NARROW-BODY

Lion Air bet its business new vibrant commercial aviation hubs.
on narrow-bodies by asian economies still have very strong
ordering an astonishing growing demand and most airlines prefer
380 Boeing’s 737s to lease aircraft. li Jiaxiang, director of
the civil aviation administration of china,
estimated recently that local carriers
are likely to buy more than 2,500 aircraft
between 2011 and 2015 (300 aircraft a
year). this will push the average annual
value of the new aircraft leasing market
to an impressive uS$10 billion.
india is one of the big growth
areas for narrow-body sales. despite
TRAININg WOES setbacks for long-haul air india and
While the immediate outlook for aircraft sales is bright, the shortage Kingfisher airlines, the domestic sector
of skilled pilots, air traffic controllers (ATCs), technicians, engineers, is still buzzing. it experienced the
and cabin crew across the region is increasing. Current training second strongest domestic air traffic
infrastructure is creaking at the seams. “New avenues are opening up growth in the world after Brazil (16.3%)
for investors in the training arena and the chances of generating good at 12.3% over previous-year levels. this
returns are high,” says analyst consultant Frost & Sullivan in a recent is particularly the case with the short-
report. However, lack of international standards, and a long, complex haul sector with tier one and two cities
career path makes it difficult to source appropriate talent. “An demanding faster capacity increase.
alarming trend is that low-cost and charter carriers are hiring poorly india’s most successful carrier, indigo,
trained personnel. They are keen to cash in on the opportunities the last year ordered 180 airbus a320s - in
market affords but slack off in terms of quality,” asserts the report. a record sale worth uS$16.4 billion at
Not good news with every new single-aisle aircraft delivered needing list price, the largest single firm order
10 more pilots, maintenance staff and crew. number in commercial aviation history.
the airline plans to acquire 150 of the
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